Black Friday Protest Sites Included An Amazon Warehouse (thecourier.co.uk) 165
An anonymous reader writes:
Friday a group of protesters picketed Amazon's warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland, alleging workers there face "up to 60 hours per week for little more than the minimum wage," according to an article in The Courier. "They also claim that new workers are tracked and monitored every minute of their working day and sacked if they fail to meet targets... Amazon has dismissed the claims, insisting that the firm values its employees and maintains a 'culture of direct dialogue' with them."
But around the world, more than 1 million people celebrated Buy Nothing Day on Friday, according to the editor in chief of Adbusters, saying their event has now spread to more than 60 countries. The Adbusters.org site suggested protesters stage zombie walks to parody the mindlessness of consumerism, and urged credit card-cutting ceremonies as well as "Whirl-Marts," where large groups of people "silently drive your shopping carts around in a long, inexplicable conga line without ever actually buying anything." The site is also sharing downloadable images which can be printed out for posters "to insert into public spaces."
One prominent retailer even closed both its physical and online stores Friday and gave all of its 12,000 employees the day off, according to USA Today. REI, which sells outdoor recreational equipment, was encouraging people to take advantage of Friday's free admission to many state parks for the second year in a row, and as many as 2.7 million people "pledged to participate" using the company's hashtag, #OptOutside.
But around the world, more than 1 million people celebrated Buy Nothing Day on Friday, according to the editor in chief of Adbusters, saying their event has now spread to more than 60 countries. The Adbusters.org site suggested protesters stage zombie walks to parody the mindlessness of consumerism, and urged credit card-cutting ceremonies as well as "Whirl-Marts," where large groups of people "silently drive your shopping carts around in a long, inexplicable conga line without ever actually buying anything." The site is also sharing downloadable images which can be printed out for posters "to insert into public spaces."
One prominent retailer even closed both its physical and online stores Friday and gave all of its 12,000 employees the day off, according to USA Today. REI, which sells outdoor recreational equipment, was encouraging people to take advantage of Friday's free admission to many state parks for the second year in a row, and as many as 2.7 million people "pledged to participate" using the company's hashtag, #OptOutside.
Re:Silly America (Score:5, Funny)
Silly America. One day they'll learn
Friday a group of protesters picketed Amazon's warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland
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Silly America. One day they'll learn
Friday a group of protesters picketed Amazon's warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland
How did all of those silly Americans get to Scotland?
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Silly America. One day they'll learn
Friday a group of protesters picketed Amazon's warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland
How did all of those silly Americans get to Scotland?
Booze Cruise gone awry is my guess.
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Silly America. One day they'll learn
Friday a group of protesters picketed Amazon's warehouse in Dunfermline, Scotland
Amazon [wikipedia.org] is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company, founded in July 5, 1994 by Jeff Bezos and based in Seattle, Washington.
Yes, but the customers and employees of the Dunfermline, Scotland warehouse are not.
i bought nothing friday (Score:1)
just wanted to make sure i was included in the metrics. #fuckblackfriday
Re: i bought nothing friday (Score:1)
I bought three Nike Golf polos on Kohl's website yesterday for $50. I'm not a big Nike guy, but those shirts are awesome for work, and normally cost about three times that price.
#buycott
Re: i bought nothing friday (Score:4, Insightful)
I bought three Nike Golf polos on Kohl's website yesterday for $50. I'm not a big Nike guy, but those shirts are awesome for work, and normally cost about three times that price.
#buycott
So let me get this right - you paid ONLY one-third the normal price for the 'privilege' of allowing Nike to use your body as a walking billboard? Good for you my man - way to grab a bargain! I suppose it never occurred to you that if you were advertising for Nike on a building you own or a magazine you publish, THEY would pay YOU for advertising for them.
Why should plastering a company's logo on your body cost YOU money?
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So let me get this right - you paid ONLY one-third the normal price for the 'privilege' of allowing Nike to use your body as a walking billboard? Good for you my man - way to grab a bargain! I suppose it never occurred to you that if you were advertising for Nike on a building you own or a magazine you publish, THEY would pay YOU for advertising for them.
Why should plastering a company's logo on your body cost YOU money?
I don't care whose logo is on it, they're just really nice shirts. I've tried the other brands, and they're just not as comfortable or as cool to wear. And I'm in Phoenix, Arizona where being cool matters.
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Something is worth whatever somebody will pay for it. Most people do pay $50 for these shirts, though even at that amount, these are by far NOT the most expensive work shirt you can buy. But to me, they are the most comfortable work short you can buy. And I've tried other (cheaper) brands made out of the same material, and they just don't feel as good, and/or the collar curls (a peeve of mine with polo shirts) and/or the buttons take a little more work to button. So yeah, I think it's worth it. Besides, you
Re: i bought nothing friday (Score:2)
Reminds me of a story a professor told once while helping to set up a factory in China. A few years after the Nike thing, which was 20 years ago!!
He was adamant with the local factory owner that no one under 16 be allowed to work in the factory. For those under 10 they already had set up the daycare & educational facilities like other companies. They didn't want to repeat the Nike nightmare. It was not only a company policy, but one the prof took personally. He would not want his children working in t
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Re: Carbon monoxide detector (Score:4, Funny)
Did you know the average smoker is killed 17 times per day?
OK, I don't mind the 17 times thing, but what is the cost of resuscitating this poor soul just to off him again?
Also, is it the same smoker day after day or do you pick a new smoker everyday?
And if it's the latter, is there a nomination process or is the selection random?
Lastly, is this occurring near a medical supply company so the participants can cash in on Black Friday savings on things like defibrillator gel and EKG leads?
Very good point (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm a good customer of Amazon's and make multiple purchases pretty much every month, but the protesters have a good point about the working conditions (and according to that NYT piece, that apparently extends to the white collar workforce as well, except maybe for the compensation). More power to them.
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working 60+ hours a week isn't healthy for one.. unfortunately, placing restrictions on that causes problems elsewhere.
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Maybe Amazon should placate the protestors by doing what most companies do these days and give each worker just 20 hours a week instead of 60...
The only way to placate the protester is to pat them on the back for how wonderfully considerate they are. As they care more about the appearance of care than anything else. Welcome to the 'here's my list of complaints...look at how wonderful I am' generation.
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Why should such jobs pay much?
I guess it depends on your view of how an economy works.
I canna say how it works in Scotland, but here in the states if you are working a minimum wage job, a whole world of government subsidized services are opened to you.
It's an interesting conundrum, as the largest employer in the US would claim that raising the minimum wage is a socialist or at least anti-capitalist action, while fully knowing that it allows their workforce to be subsidized by the taxpayers. Purposeful socialism under the guise of
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You have your head stuck so far up your own ass I'm not sure if it's possible to shout loud enough for you to hear this, but you are a fucking asshole. America has shitty welfare to begin with - most of the people on it are "working poor" - they work, but don't earn enough to make ends meet. Government is basically subsidizing shitty corporate culture that doesn't pay enough for people to live on.
The one who needs a serious attitude adjustment is you.
One meme that won't go away is the concept that there are people spending their entire lives on welfare. Most, and maybe all welfare programs today are very limited both in time and money. But the memes are the same from the 70's.
It is an uncomfortable part of life, that despite what we are told, all of us cannot be anything we want to be. There is a whole subset of humans who are not capable of more skilled or intellectual activities.
So what do we do with these less fortunate or less ambitious people?
Re:Hey guess what, low skill jobs suck (Score:5, Insightful)
Walmart pays poorly because the jobs it hires people for are mostly unskilled labor. Training consists of "take this, put it there". The alternative to "subsidizing Walmart" is that they get nothing from Walmart and everything from the government. Which is cheaper?
Now just between you and me, there is money to be made at Walmart. And like it or not, the higher paid positions are not exactly rocket science either.
As for your interesting "what the market will bear" remark, it should be cheaper in the end to have WalMart pay a wage that allows it's employees to survive without government assistance. That's simple efficiency. You can't have it both ways of wanting government subsidies because cheap, while banging a free market drum.
Raising the minimum wage is just shifting the burden of welfare funding from the public to Walmart, which will have to raise prices to compensate.
What the holy baby jeebuz in a pup tent? If a person is working and getting paid, and living off it - it isn't welfare.
And dear Coward, if Walmart can't pay a wage that allows it's employees to not have to take money from the government, perhaps it is using a flawed business model, and should do what the market does to failed business models. Puts them out of business.
As their entire business model is "sell stuff cheap to poor people", you are risking killing one of the most successful businesses ever in order to achieve your social goals. And, at the end, who gets screwed? The poor who shop at Walmart.
Sounds awesome. Make everyone poor as possible so they can shop at Walmart.
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WalMart has competitors. If it pays much more than the competition, it will lose money. If it pays much less than the competition, it will lose employees. WalMart's advantages of efficient systems and tough negotiations with suppliers are not enough to allow them to successfully pretend that nobody else is competing with them.
So what you are saying is that competition demands lowering wages to stay competitive, so we race to the bottom of figuring out a way to pay people nothing at all, or as close to it as possible. So these companies will be hauling in the cash lake crazy from all of the money they'll make when no one can afford to buy anything because the ultimate goal is to lower the wages to the point where 100 percent of the pay is devoted to survival eating.
It's unskilled labor, fuck 'em they can die and the company w
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You just can't dangle that claim and not tell us how. List the way, otherwise all you have is BS.
My bad - I wrote something that can be interpreted two ways.
The Walton children of the WalMart clan are doing just fine, despite not having a whole lot to do with the company that Sam built. I think you interpreted what I wrote as a basic employee could make money. No, the company has that pretty well locked down.
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Amazon should give the workers the fucking option of of not working overtime. When I was unemployed I was asked to go along to a recruitment thing for Amazon by my job advisor, I walked ourt of it after about 10 minutes when they made it clear that overtime was mandatory, I was (and still am) a single parent it wasn't reasonable for me to do that many hours.
I'm sure some people would jump at the chance of overtime, but is it right to force your employees into it?
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The Walmart effect
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b/c Amazon drove most of the mom and pop stores, as well as many big box retailers like Tower Records and Virgin Music, out of business.
Mom and Pop used to work 70 hours a week keeping their stores running.
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Amazon was already well established selling CDs by then. In 1997 Amazon was big enough to be sued by Barnes and Noble, and that didn't happen by sell
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I didn't know they still had slavery in Scotland.
It's a job, not slavery, why don't they just quit.
Why don't they just quit?, have a good look at the job market in Scotland sometime, and when I say a good look, I mean try and actually get one not just count the vacancies (there is no guarantee a lot of them actually exist - there are various 'numbers games' being played), I say this as someone who does have a job and who deals with people who are either currently unemployed or will soon be in that category again on a weekday basis.
Amazon prey on the fact that there are large pools of available labour th
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Welcome to the 21st fucking century...
Same as all the previous centuries? Honestly, all those who think the modern (Western) world is so progressive are really just deluding themselves.
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there are people in this country struggling to keep both warm and fed, they'll do any shitty job just to keep their heads above the waters financially, and that's what Amazon et al are banking millions off the back of. Welcome to the 21st fucking century...
Yes, there are many people struggling, but in comparison with other centuries they have it a heck of a lot better overall. I'd much rather be a struggling wage earner today over one 50 or a hundred years ago. Its not even close.
I suppose we'll help all these struggling workers by not buying stuff. Lets eliminate the need for the few jobs that are available!
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With slavery, you have no ability to either leave a job or to better yourself so you can deserve a better one. Wage slaves have options, even if they may be dismal. I was a wage slave about 15 years ago, and it was certainly far different from anything I have heard about real slavery. Even when working on about $1 over minimum wage, I could afford to go drinking with friends, play video games, have hobbies, have some limited control over my schedule, etc. My life then had more in common with my current uppe
Re:What you've heard about slavery (Score:1)
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Probably for the same reason the people crying for bread didn't just eat cake instead.
what a load. (Score:3)
Amazon has dismissed the claims, insisting that the firm values its employees and maintains a 'culture of direct dialogue' with them
Here's how that "direct dialogue" goes, "Oh, you have a problem with your job? Ok, I'll listen to your complaints while security escorts you out the door."
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Here's how that "direct dialogue" goes, "Oh, you have a problem with your job? Ok, I'll listen to your complaints while security escorts you out the door."
Given that this is happening in Scotland the result would very quickly favour the employee in an unfair dismissal lawsuit.
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Everything is racist, everything is sexist, everything is homophobic and Amazon is not listening to it's special snowflakes employee well enough. #BlackLivesMatter #NotMyPresident
Considering adbusters was at one time run by a jackhole named Jonathan McIntosh, sounds about right. That's the same jackhole that ran around with Anita "take things out of context" Sarkeesian.
How to get banned from a store in 3 easy steps (Score:2)
Whirl-Marts and any card cutting "services" are a good way to find yourself banned from a property.
And yes folks you can in fact have Private Property with Public Access.
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"We'll get back at you for not buying anything in our shitty store by banning you from our shitty store!"
Late-stage capitalist logic. It's like suspending a student for cutting class. "Zero tolerance for those who don't shop!"
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no catching a trespassing charge (and others if the LEO is in a bad mood) is the big issue if you go to store you need to be there to 1 BUY 2 Shop 3 return an item going to a store to interfere with that store doing business is criminal
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It isn't trespassing if you leave when asked to.
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but it is if you decide to come back (oh btw chains can and will share bans)
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Sure, if you go back. But since you're presumably planning to boycott anyway, so what?
That presumes they actually have any idea who you are in the first place. They don't, and if you're smart you'll just walk out when they confront you (perhaps go whirl at another store).
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It makes just as much sense as protesting other people going to a store on a day that should be spent giving Thanks.
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Um, the protest in the story is taking place in Scotland. It's not Thanksgiving in Scotland.
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"intent"? How do you determine intent? Have you ever in your life gone into a store, say, looking for a TV, and not really intending to buy anything but just looking to see which model you want when you're ready to pull the trigger? Or maybe just getting specs so you can compare?
If so, then you should also be banned. I've seen many people here talk about looking for a
60 hours a week? (Score:5, Informative)
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A lot of minimum wage people would love to get 60 hours a week of work.
The workers are not the protesters. The workers themselves are likely happy for the overtime pay.
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I'm sure that the workers would rather make a living wage than destroy their health working unsustainable hours doing manual labor and racking up medical bills they can't afford to pay. Your fat ass probably couldn't make it through a single shift in one of those sweat shops.
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Re:60 hours a week? (Score:5, Insightful)
What they would really love is being able to make a decent living on 40 hours a week so they can actually spend time with their family.
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In fact, I'm surprised there are still workers in those warehouses given how much they cost and how they attract negative press for Amazon.
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It worked OK in the '50s and '60s. The 8 hour day and the 5 day week was a thing for decades. So was closing on every Sunday and major holiday. That was right here in the U.S.
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Ahh, the tame words of the slave. Grow a spine and demand your right to a life.
Re: love (Score:1)
Re:60 hours a week? (Score:5, Insightful)
The BBC did an undercover investigation of an Amazon warehouse. They found a very fit guy, a cross country runner, and got him a job there. Amazon gave him a cart and a little hand held device that tells him where to go. The screen has a big countdown timer on it, and beeps incessantly to encourage the worker to move faster. If they don't get to the right shelf and pick the item before the countdown hits zero, they get a demerit and eventually fired.
That kind of high pressure, physically demanding job very quickly took a toll on the guy's health. If constantly being ordered around by a computer, controlling his every movement, wasn't bad enough, the time allocated to collecting each item required moving pretty quickly. Often the automatic lights would fail and he would be wondering about in the dark. Managers showed little sympathy.
A company that designs its jobs such that a physically fit person starts having health problems working there is evil and such practices should be banned. We got rid of most of that back in the 19th century.
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Are you talking about this story [bbc.com] dated 2013? There is no mention of super fit cross-country runner. But other than that, thanks for sharing. Very informative. Is there another similar story? Please post the link if you have it.
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Indeed. The TV programme the report is based on has more detail, including footage of the guy running cross country.
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The way they treat employees is why I do not buy from Amazon. I restrict my purchases so I can use 'decent shops'; cost more but most do not 'bully' employees as Amazon was shown to have done on BBC in UK. PS I live in UK, so also motivated by Amazon's deliberate tax avoidance in paying UK tax.
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Careful where you order that. A "Latte" is a wooden beam in Germany. And you just might get it. To the neck.
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Careful where you order that. A "Latte" is a wooden beam in Germany. And you just might get it. To the neck.
I'm going to open a coffee shop in Utah. Think I'll call it the "Latte Day Saints."
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You sound like the psychopath. My statement is "A lot of minimum wage people would love to get 60 hours a week of work." Thats it. Now go make me a latte.
Side note. Always - but always, be nice to the person who is preparing your food and drink.
It will tend to taste a lot better.
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How many minimum wage workers love their job so much they actually want to spend more time there? What they actually want is more money and they will do overtime to get it, but they don't actually want to work more hours.
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And your statement is bullshit. Hence why you got called out on it.
Have you ever worked minimum wage when you required that money to pay the bills? (meaning not while in school)
I have (well, it was about $1 over minimum wage at the time), and I certainly enjoyed times when I was able to work 60 hours per week. That meant about $2200 take home per month instead of around $1300. I can tell you I really wanted that extra $900. So while my experience doesn't speak for everyone, his statement certainly was not bullshit for me or nearly anyone I worked with at the time.
Re: 60 hours a week? (Score:2)
What good old times? People keep thinking history was some glorious time. It was shit; most of it was way worse than today! There were actual threats to worry about, actual wars, not enough food to buy, not enough gas, higher ppl to home ratios, people worked in more dangerous environments, had less stuff in the house...
Friday? (Score:2)
Sigh (Score:2)
One prominent retailer even closed both its physical and online stores Friday and gave all of its 12,000 employees the day off, according to USA Today.
Why would you close the online store? Nobody has to be there. Just let everyone know there will be no support on that day and their problems will have to be solved another day. Harbor Freight was among the companies which closed all of their stores, but they had black friday coupon deals on their site.
non-event (Score:2)
a million people in the world? ha, might as well have been zero for any impact, the multi-billion dollar megacorps couldn't care.
Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Interesting)
They did this scam last year too
The point was to give their workers the day off, which they did, so I don't see how it is a "scam".
... and it increased their online sales by a large amount due to the free publicity.
Good. They deserve it. Maybe this will serve as an example for others that treating workers well can be good business.
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To a liberal shit-face, no company can do good.
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What am I missing here... workers apply for a job, get the job, agree to and get paid a legal wage, get held accountable for what they do, and are sacked if they don't do the job. Am I missing something?
The problem is people unable to have a normal work-life balance and have a job at the same time. I have a relative who works for Wal-Mart. When she first got hired the company was actually CLOSED on Thanksgiving, in fact, they weren't even open 24 hours then. Since then, Wal-Mart has expanded their hours and started to be open now on holidays. They expect employees to work in a all-hands-on-deck fashion that leaves people with no way to enjoy the supposed "holidays" with their own loved ones. Can you imagin
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Can you imagine having a family and being told you have to work 9-5 on Thanksgiving?
Does it even matter? It's a completely bullshit holiday anyway. Now tell me I have to work on Election Day and I'll get pissed.
Happy fuck-over-the-natives day.
captcha: Murder
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You are missing a balanced society where people actually have a family that they spend time with.
The sad/funny thing is that the very places that count on Thanksgiving to signal the start of Christmas shopping are the ones working so hard to turn it into just another Thursday. I wonder what they plan to do once they accomplish that? Perhaps they'll invade Christmas and totally kill the season that makes them so much money (and the society that surrounds them).
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where large groups of people "silently drive your shopping carts around in a long, inexplicable conga line without ever actually buying anything."
How sadistic! Why not just ask people to stay at home and do whatever - play w/ the kids, watch their favorite show, cook, do whatever, instead of causing those store employees to stand at their checkout counters waiting for the next customers!
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