SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The World Socialist Web Site reports
Injured Amazon worker Shannon Allen spoke to the International Amazon Workers Voice about the conditions at the DFW-7 fulfillment center in Haslet, Texas. Shannon described brutal working conditions, authoritarian-style surveillance of workers, and management demands to maintain frenetic rates of speed.
Shannon, 49, lives in Azle, Texas, a small town on the western outskirts of Fort Worth. She was injured while working at Amazon, returned to the job, and was injured again at the same workstation. Physically unable to continue work, Shannon now faces homelessness on top of her injuries, but she is determined to "fight or die".
[...] To maximize her income, Shannon volunteered for the overnight shift on Saturday through Thursday. The shift begins at 6:30 at night and ends at 5:00 in the morning. However, once Shannon received her first paycheck, she realized that her pay was $13 per hour for the weekend shifts, not the $13.50 that had been promised.
[...] Shannon worked as a "counter", whose job was to check the work of the pickers and stowers. Fail to catch a mistake, and become a target of a punitive system of "quality errors" and "write-ups".
Not long after starting to work at Amazon, Shannon began to recognize what she called the "dirty secrets". "These are the things they don't tell you about when you're hired."
Every time workers leave the facility, they are subjected to an invasive search. "You wait in line with a bucket like at the airport", she said. A worker is required to take off belt, shoes, and hat. Bags are sent through a conveyor belt and the worker goes through a full body scan. "If you set it off, you have to go through a second search, and they wand you front to back."
In a 10-hour shift, workers are permitted two 15-minute breaks and one 30-minute break for lunch. To go outside on a break, workers must submit to the search and go through the security line. "The lines to get outside on your 15-minute break are 20 to 30 deep on each line, and there are only two lines." Meanwhile, the breaks are timed from "scan to scan" at a worker's station, and workers are admonished, "Not one second more."
[...] "The heat is sweltering." Shannon described fans here and there, pointing down the aisles where workers walk to get to their stations, but not toward the workers to help them cool off. "Whoever thought of that design was a complete idiot", Shannon said. "Because we get no relief from the heat with them pointed down the aisle."
Temperatures reached 80, 85, and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. "In the summertime, it gets over 100 degrees in there", Shannon said. "Here is another genius idea. They have these signs hanging down that have our station numbers on them. These signs are probably as big as a 19-inch TV. They are in front of the fans and it blows the sign constantly. And we get no relief from the heat."
"July and August are the absolute worst", Shannon continued. "It was nothing to see an ambulance up at Amazon four to five times a night." Workers dropped at their stations, physically unable to continue working. "On my shift", Shannon said, "we were picking people up from heat exhaustion."
[...] In addition to having "expectations of the human body that are unrealistic", Shannon said the company expected workers to manage with faulty equipment and constant demands to meet strict time limits. Attempting to work at high speeds around faulty equipment was a common cause of injury.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10 2018, @01:33PM (14 children)
She should learn to code, then her pay would be $75 per hour minimum.
Coding. It how to get paid shittons of fucking money. Isn't that right, you lying assholes?
(Score: 4, Funny) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 10 2018, @01:40PM (2 children)
Mind your business. I've got enough competition as it is without you inspiring more.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10 2018, @06:42PM (1 child)
Mighty Fucktard says, "FUCK YOU, GOT MINE."
No surprise here.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 10 2018, @08:52PM
Good word, "fucktard"; one of my favorites. I'd mod you up for it but we decided a while back that Underrated shouldn't be used unless you'd been otherwise moderated and you're not any of the rest of the upmods.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10 2018, @07:17PM (10 children)
Not to mention that average training time is between 1 hour and 3 weeks. People who say learning programming takes longer than that are clearly just the worst kind of human, worse than literal Hitler, worse than allegorical Hitler: the sexually active incel.
(Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 10 2018, @09:07PM (8 children)
People calling themselves incels amuse me. For starters, any straight chick who says she's one is lying. The rest are mostly straight beta males. Here's a hint, beta guys, you're only ever going to get laid when it's more convenient than buying new vibrator batteries. Chicks do not dig on betas. You simply do not flip their primal, I-want-to-fuck-him switches.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10 2018, @10:54PM (7 children)
You are such a moron, but it is fun seeing you trigger enough to lash out.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 10 2018, @11:55PM
You think that was lashing out? I pity you, having to go through life with such a poorly working mind and malfunctioning social skills. Here, I'll label it properly for you so that you can retrain yourself: That was mockery. People calling themselves incels with any amount of seriousness crack me the fuck up. I haven't laughed as hard as I did when I first heard the term in ages.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @12:14AM (5 children)
Buzzard is right.
Take my wife for example. She picked me because I am an Alpha in her world. I have money. Am fairly stable. etc etc etc. I am NOT a nice guy. I do the right thing. Guess what she respects that.
'Nice guys' do finish last in the race to get pussy. You can get the occasional pity fuck. They want confidence, control in their life, and someone to lean on when things go sideways.
Chics dig confidence. The 'bad boy' that many women go for in their youth is confident. Chics quickly realize that 'bad boys' are losers who are fakes. Getting your third tattoo while hitting your chic up for cash for smokes is a first class ticket to hit the bricks.
Chics like control in their lives. This does not mean you control them. But you show them you have control and can take charge when the need arises and do not cower like a chicken. Show them you cower when the shit hits the fan and you can hit the bricks.
Chics want some idea that they are safe. It is in many peoples nature to want this. Show them they are safe with you and they hang around. Go and creep on them and you can hit the bricks.
Chics are in the catbird seat when it comes to picking mates. Learn what they want not what they say. It is like trying to get requirements from a client. One who says they want a website. But what they want is a way to sell their stuff. Could be the same thing or maybe you hook them up with ebay or amazon. When chics 'say' they want someone who makes them laugh. They are saying they want someone who will not make them cry. That does not mean let them control you by tears (hit the bricks again). It means you are not mean and spiteful. But you do not let them do that to you either. That is but one small example.
Good luck finding someone who fits these qualifications. People are assholes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @12:32AM (2 children)
Frankly, it's people like you that make me seriously consider remaining celibate my entire goddam life.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday May 11 2018, @01:34AM (1 child)
That's probably for the best. If you're not aware of how that fits into the evolutionary and sociological schemes of things, you're not really bright enough to improve the species by breeding anyway.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @04:23PM
And Pappa Darwin doesn't give a flying fuck about your teleological notions either. So, don't bother lecturing me about being bright or improving the species.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @12:13PM (1 child)
That is true. And there are just as many "beta" women as "beta" men. Maybe even more. And women still think guys will continue to come up to them and then they just end up with a death-cat on their lap instead.
I've been told "You're not my type" or worse by women that didn't even talk to me. So yes, people have problems. And the older you are, the worse it gets as all the good ones tend to "settle" for someone. Why? Just so they feel not alone.
There are some people that are not assholes out there. Sometimes you find them, in surprising places.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @04:47PM
Agreed.
??? I'm not sure what that even means.
How is it they are telling you this if they won't even speak to you?!?
I agree. I would also add that there is a big clue buried in there. Are you really willing to just "settle" for someone, just so you will feel less alone? Is not being alone really worth that much to you? Maybe you could find other ways to feel less alone than pairing up with someone you have "settled" on. Just a thought.
Well, yes, and the trick is finding the right place to look for such people. Clue: you probably won't find them hanging out with all the other assholes. Again, just a thought.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 11 2018, @12:20AM
between 1 hour and 3 weeks
It does not take long to learn to code. It takes years of practice to know how to do it correctly.
I have taught dozens of fresh out of college folk who could not code worth a damn how to do so. Out of those I would say 1 in 5 'get it'. Of those 1 in 20 like it. Those others? Well 'its a job' or 'I just do not get it'. That is experience talking.
Coding is the *easy* part of the job. I find it fun. But it is the easy part. The hard part is not making a mess of it. I can teach any jackass to cut lumber (takes about 15 mins). But not everyone can build, level, sand, paint, a table correctly.
I can today hire 4 coders from india for about 20k. I would get what I pay for. The good ones are in the states making 100k.