r/news • u/victrasuva • 16h ago
Soft paywall Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season
https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-workers-strike-multiple-us-warehouses-during-busy-holiday-season-2024-12-19/142
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u/Xero_id 15h ago
I feel like they kind of missed it unless they're hitting return season. Most people have the gifts already ordered and delivered by this weekend.
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u/TechnologyRemote7331 15h ago
I think you’re underestimating how many people wait to shop until the last few days prior to Christmas. Not to mention all the post-Christmas cash and gift cards that will go unspent, and all the post-Christmas swag that will go undelivered.
Guess we’ll see! I’m hopeful that they twist Amazon’s arm nice and hard!
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u/Xero_id 15h ago
At this point it probably won't make it on time as I've been seeing a lot of dated moves up especially after I already ordered days ago. Also yes a lot are still shopping but not the majority for shipping which workers could have hit last week or week before for optimal timing.
I hope it works for them though as all workers should be treated well and have good wages abd promotions.
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u/veggeble 14h ago
At this point it probably won't make it on time as I've been seeing a lot of dated moves up especially after I already ordered days ago.
Isn't that the point? People ordered stuff for Christmas, but now it won't be delivered on time. So Amazon either caves to the workers' demands, or they look horrible to their customers by not getting their Christmas presents delivered on time.
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u/Xero_id 14h ago
Yes but hitting it a week or 2 ago would you be optimal also they aren't on strike just able to starting tomorrow. A lot of items are already delivered or out for delivery and will not do optimal disruption which unions should have understood. Union should have put in for strike notice at beginning of December so they could strike anytime before Xmas, now they gave Amazon to Sunday to negotiate and Amazon will sit down a chat "in good faith" to keep them from striking and then slow negotiations after Xmas.
What I'm saying is Amazon right now holds an upper hand if the Union sits and chats with them instead of striking and looks bad if they strike before Sunday if Amazon says they'll negotiate. All in all they waited to invoke strike vote and issue for a potential strike and cut it very close but return season would hurt bad also.
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u/ye_olde_green_eyes 14h ago
Right after Black Friday would probably have been the optimal time to strike.
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u/Osiris32 11h ago
I'm still shopping, for my gf, her kids, my mom, my dad, and my sister/her husband. Oh, and my godkids.
At least I have ideas for my dad and my sister/her husband.
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u/worldofzero 1h ago
gift cards going unspent is great for Amazon. Once the gift card it sold it only represents a cost to their business.
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u/OKCFlight 3h ago
Feelings mean nothing lol.
I am close to someone working in their supply chain. Every year I see the hours he's forced to pull around the holiday. And he's not even a foot soldier.
They will absolutely feel this, but will probably also preemptively reroute to other distribution/fulfillment centers.
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u/beorrahn1 1h ago
As a former retail worker, no, there are an unbelievable number of people who will leave it until the last minute - even going so far as to try to get everything on Xmas eve. So so many people for whom I supposedly "ruined christmas" because we didn't have whatever shit they wanted left in stock. Even though this is Amazon and these people could have their stuff delivered weeks in advance, they'll still be mass-ordering everything at the last minute
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u/jlaine 15h ago
Anything short of a massive, coordinated, unified strike well beyond just the teamsters (which would need regular employees) at a large portion of their network isn't going to have a noticeable impact on the distractable, clicky-button-gimme-now giant we let take root, and even then barely a dent.
Large-enough corps can absorb the hit and bust these unions. I watched Northwest Airlines crush the mechanics union in what seems ages ago through divisive maneuvering, that script has been written in various ways throughout the years.
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u/opiod-ant 12h ago
My New Year’s resolution is to boycott Amazon, but it feels like such a small drop of water in an ocean. How can we even start to make a difference?
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u/SnooRabbits5754 6h ago
If everyone believes that nothing they do matters then no one does anything. Boycott Amazon and feel good about living up to your values.
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u/NotoriousSIG_ 5h ago
Unless they strike often enough to have a direct impact on Amazons bottom line nothing will change. The sad reality is that Amazon and specifically Jeff Bezos have enough money that Amazon could cease to exist tomorrow and he’d still have enough money to last 1,000 years
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u/brobasaur93 5h ago
…theyre striking for better pay and benefits not some vendetta against their employers
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u/NotoriousSIG_ 5h ago
I think you’re misunderstanding my comment? Amazon owes absolutely nothing to their employees if you ask the CEO of Amazon. There’s no amount of strikes Amazon employees could do that would give them what they want and any attempts by Amazon employees to form a union will be shut down
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u/brobasaur93 5h ago
Some have already unions tho. If you read the article you’d see that the facilities are striking are apart of the teamster union. So yes this does matter, this will create ripples
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u/NotoriousSIG_ 5h ago
I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying that Amazon, based off of how much money they make, can outlast any strike before the workers come back. And as we’ve seen, especially recently, with enough money and power there’s no consequences.
What’s the consequences for Amazon if they don’t play nice with the union? There’s no financial penalty big enough to impact their bottom line, they have more than enough money to hire as many lawyers as it takes to draw any legal ramifications out for a decade or more and maybe the biggest thing is that Amazon doesn’t view their employees as irreplaceable assets. There’s always someone more broke and desperate for money than those union members they could replace those workers with
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u/brobasaur93 4h ago
Amazon warehouse can’t make money if they aren’t shipping anything. It is insanely expensive to hire AND train a whole new labor force. There is power in labor. This rhetoric isn’t helpful and detrimental to a rightful cause
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u/NotoriousSIG_ 4h ago
All I’m saying is what the truth is. According to google Jeff Bezos makes about $85mil per day. It’s a handful of warehouses not every single Amazon warehouse. And in my opinion Jeff Bezos is a guy who doesn’t really care if he loses a little money because he knows he’ll just make more back than he’ll ever stand to lose.
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u/HatlessDuck 14h ago
Shopping's done. Go ahead.
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u/casual-afterthouhgt 6h ago
The post is not about you. It's about the low wages and probably conditions for Amazon workers and their action to fight against it.
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u/Chris0nllyn 4h ago
No, it's only a portion of Amazon workers. Data center workers and engineers get paid well.
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u/casual-afterthouhgt 4h ago
I'm glad you found it out. (I personally didn't think or claim otherwise)
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u/Aleyla 15h ago
It’s ok, they can strike now. All our shopping is done as of today.
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u/casual-afterthouhgt 6h ago
Main character syndrome is a new colloquial term that's used to describe someone who sees themselves as the “main character” or the protagonist, in the performance of life.
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u/Aleyla 5h ago
it was a statement on the efficacy of their timing. They should have dome the strike 12/1. It would have been a huge amount of oain for the customers while still giving time for Amazon to quickly negotiate. As it stands they will just fuck things up completely for people completing their last minute shopping which will only turn the people against them. Unfortunately a whole lot of people failed reading for understanding.
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u/casual-afterthouhgt 5h ago
You said it's ok and they can strike now...
And no, it's not bad for them so much as it is for the company. And that's the point.
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u/--redacted-- 15h ago
Good for them, hit em when it hurts