Amazon, Instacart Grocery Delivery Workers Strike For Coronavirus Protection And Pay (npr.org) 40
Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, N.Y., and Instacart's grocery delivery workers nationwide plan to walk off their jobs on Monday. From the report: They are demanding stepped-up protection and pay as they continue to work while much of the country is asked to isolate as a safeguard against the coronavirus. The strikes come as both Amazon and Instacart have said they plan to hire tens of thousands of new workers. Online shopping and grocery home delivery are skyrocketing as much of the nation hunkers down and people stay at home, following orders and recommendations from the federal and local governments. This has put a spotlight on workers who shop, pack and deliver these high-demand supplies. Companies refer to the workers as "heroes," but workers say their employers aren't doing enough to keep them safe.
This is counterproductive. (Score:5, Insightful)
From a health perspective, having fewer people doing the shopping means lower risk of this virus spreading. Not having these people doing this means more people out shopping on their own, which increases the risk for everyone, including these workers.
And many of the things they're asking for, like hand sanitizer and wipes, while not unreasonable in a sane world, are utterly unavailable right now. Unless they think that their employer is the second coming, and can make sanitizer out of water, those sorts of demands are unrealistic.
I'm not saying that they don't have a good reason to be mad, and they should be getting serious hazard pay, and their companies should be doing everything they can to get appropriate PPE and similar for their employees. However, those workers need to understand that it may not be possible to get those supplies, and that the most likely outcome of this strike is a bunch of elderly and infirm not having any food to eat.
Just trying to put things in the proper perspective here.
3.3m unemployed, ready and willing... (Score:1)
I wish these 100 Amazon workers good luck, but with 3.3 million recently unemployed people sitting around without a paycheck, I think they're fighting an uphill battle.
When the gov't shut down "non-essential" businesses, the excuse was that we need people to isolate at home to "flatten the curve."
That may be true, but the more sinister reason for shutting down non-essential businesses is that the gov't needs to keep a reserve of uninfected people, hungry for a paycheck, waiting in the wings for all the bus
Re: (Score:2)
I wish these 100 Amazon workers good luck, but with 3.3 million recently unemployed people sitting around without a paycheck, I think they're fighting an uphill battle.
They're lucky they're not being chosen by random lottery for human sacrifice.
Re: This is counterproductive. (Score:3)
The shortage of hand sanitizer is really just a shortage of alcohol, something whose production should have been ordered under the Defense Production Act over a month ago.
A number of distilleries have voluntarily switched over to making sanitizer, although containers to distribute it are hard to come by.
Re: (Score:1)
Work waiting? Work needs to be done all over the USA?
Gov and mil gets the work done with their own workers.
Re: (Score:2)
The shortage of hand sanitizer is really just a shortage of alcohol, something whose production should have been ordered under the Defense Production Act over a month ago.
A number of distilleries have voluntarily switched over to making sanitizer, although containers to distribute it are hard to come by.
Which happened *after* the BATFE permitted it. It was illegal for them to do so before.
So once again, the government was the problem. Yet now they are heroes for ignoring the laws they were enforcing.
Re: (Score:2)
It is easy to make hand sanitizer. A bottle of ethanol or isopropanol works fine. So does diluted laundry bleach. If you want a wipe, just squirt some alcohol on a paper towel.
Re:This is counterproductive. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure. Producing this stuff is easy. The logistics of getting it to the people who need it are proving somewhat more challenging. The problem with just-in-time logistics is that it is ill-equipped to deal with huge surges in demand. And now we're seeing a great example of where the race to keep costs low is counterproductive.
Re:This is counterproductive. (Score:4, Funny)
The logistics of getting it to the people who need it are proving somewhat more challenging.
Sorry, I was presuming that people could dilute their own bleach.
I had forgotten that in a crisis, Americans curl up into a fetal position and wait to be rescued.
Re: (Score:2)
Spoken like someone who hasn't tried to buy bleach lately.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, I was presuming that people could dilute their own bleach.
That is what I did, except I also included TSP. Even diluted bleach is pretty harsh so it took about a week to adjust the concentrations to just below "burns skin".
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
If you want a wipe, just squirt some alcohol on a paper towel.
Good idea!
Goes to store looking for alcohol. None on the shelf.
Checks for paper towels. Also gone.
Re: (Score:3)
we're going to see a better prepared nation when this passes. I hope... My family aren't preppers by any stretch of the imagination. We still keep a good supply of important items that might end up in short supply (alcohol, disinfecting cleaners, first aid supplies, common meds for cold/cough and so on). Near miss from a tornado a few years back made us a bit more aware I guess. Anyway, if you wait for the government or CNN to tell you what to do and when to do it, you're already behind.
Ok, I'm g
Re: (Score:2)
Goes to store looking for alcohol. None on the shelf.
Try a liqour store.
If you don't already have bleach, many stores have it in stock.
Re: (Score:2)
No, stupid, the only thing in a liquor store that would work would be Everclear, and NOTHING ELSE.
You need at least 70%, not 70proof (which is 35%).
Re: (Score:2)
You need at least 70%
The CDC recommends 60% or better.
But that doesn't mean that lower percentages "don't work", but that they don't work quite as well. 70 proof vodka gives you plenty of protection (if applied externally).
Re: (Score:2)
Try a liqour store.
If you don't already have bleach, many stores have it in stock.
Just do not let the BATFE catch you distilling the alcohol to raise the concentration and make it more effective. That is still illegal.
Re: (Score:2)
^^^ shitposting (Score:1)
So what! How does this information alter any current planning or process? You're wasting your breath pointing out shit three months late, unless you're mainly interested in virtue signaling to your fellow racists.
Should they? Devil's advocate. (Score:2)
Playing the devil's advocate. From Amazon's perspective:
and they should be getting serious hazard pay,
Should they? The workers aren't working in hazardous conditions. They are not under danger of dying because of their work. They are not asked to manipulate biohazard substances.
The air outside isn't dangerous.
The reason most of the people stays locked in is not to avoid dying. It's to avoid *spreading* disease. You might not die, you might only get a mild cold. Or perhaps no symptoms at all. But because you're infectious, you're spreading the disease a
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
many of the things they're asking for, like hand sanitizer and wipes, while not unreasonable in a sane world, are utterly unavailable right now. Unless they think that their employer is the second coming, and can make sanitizer out of water, those sorts of demands are unrealistic
No. They're reasonable and, as production has not only continued but also increased, available at wholesale.
Amazon just need to buy them for use by staff instead of for resale.
Re: (Score:2)
But Amazon workers aren't striking because of lack of supplies. That's Instacart, who don't have access to bulk wholesale purchasing of cleaning supplies.
Amazon workers are striking because they want Amazon to shut down facilities in areas with high levels of illness for a deep cleaning, and they want more sick time. Their demands seem a lot more realistic, until you realize how many workers we're talking about, and how often it would likely have to be shut down for deep cleaning if they did that every t
Re: (Score:2)
Instacart, who don't have access to bulk wholesale purchasing of cleaning supplies
That's fucking asinine, given,
Today weâ(TM)re announcing new safety measures including manufacturing & distributing our own hand sanitizer to shoppers
-- https://twitter.com/Instacart/... [twitter.com]
Yeah, I think it's reasonable for them to distribute some of that to their staff too.
Re: (Score:2)
Those shoppers *are* their staff. In other words, the company was already working on solving the problem, which made the strike pointless. Their shoppers will get the supplies as soon as the company can get them made and distributed.
Given a man an inch (Score:2, Insightful)
If the workers get a victory here they'll want victories elsewhere. If anyone's trying to figure out why Instacart & Amazon don't just bow to these (very mild, very reasonable) demands that's why.
It's also why the stimulus that helps the poor and working class was so controversial. If they can pay unemployment during this disaster then they can pay it every time Wall Street crashes the economy, right?
The key is to convince people that better things aren't possible [duckduckgo.com]
I"m going to go out on a limb here (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
You think? Maybe he can sign up for Amazon Prime and get it shipped the same day!
Re: (Score:2)
Not good timing for a strike. (Score:4, Interesting)
If you haven't noticed there is a large number of people out of work, and there will be a whole lot more. I would say if you go on strike, I wouldn't expect to have a job. This won't work in these kind of situations.
So what is stepped up protection? It might be good to know. Heavens knows no company wants to be linked to a wide spread of the virus. I'm hoping they would implement the same kind of protections everyone else if trying to follow. (within reason)
More pay? Go see my first point. Are health care workers getting more pay, or hazard pay? So no.
Re: (Score:2)
hit'em where it hurts.
These big companies need to be brought under control somehow, and I'm proud of people willing to stand up and fight.
they need an union and no fake 1099'ers (Score:2)
they need an union and no fake 1099'ers
New one in Canada... (Score:1)