Current Events > Amazon is desparate as union vote looms

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.theverge.com/2021/2/17/22287191/amazon-alabama-warehouse-union-traffic-light-change-bessemer

https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1364318690271969285?s=19

---

Why does she keep looking around nervously and sound like shes about to cry? Was she forced to do this a gunpoint or something?

---

Were_Wyrm posted...

Was she forced to do this a gunpoint or something?

I mean, they have their workers peeing in bottles to keep up with their quota. I wouldn't put it past them.

---

I'm an engineer, and every single time I deal with a unionized employee within our company (drafters or facilities), I hate our interactions. They never have a sense of urgency to them; it takes literally weeks to get anything done (getting a desk installed, getting a door installed, getting ethernet drops, etc.). And if there are any issues (not done correctly, or way past the quoted time), we literally can't even talk to them. We talk to their managers, who talk to their union reps, and then that finally gets filtered down to the unionized employee, who doesn't give a shit.

We had a ticket in to get a TV mounted on a wall in a conference room, and that was finally done ~1 year after we issued the ticket. It's insane.

---

IdiotMachine posted...

I'm an engineer, and every single time I deal with a unionized employee within our company (drafters or facilities), I hate our interactions. They never have a sense of urgency to them; it takes literally weeks to get anything done (getting a desk installed, getting a door installed, getting ethernet drops, etc.). And if there are any issues (not done correctly, or way past the quoted time), we literally can't even talk to them. We talk to their managers, who talk to their union reps, and then that finally gets filtered down to the unionized employee, who doesn't give a shit.

Maybe everyone gives too much of a shit and these Union guys have it right. You bust your ass for your company and you know how much profit they make off of you.

Its utterly pathetic to see how here in America we adore this huge corporations and think they're moral industries that care about the planet and gives their employees beanbags to sit and on in their offices and massage tables in the breakrooms.

---

While my views on virtually everything political have switched from conservative to liberal in the past few years, my views on unions have not. Speaking from experience, the only unionized employees we have at our hospital are the nurses, and to put it bluntly they leave us grossly understaffed all the time by deliberately calling out on the slightest whim, at the very last moment. It's gotten to the point where patient's lives have literally been put at risk, and their Union administration seemingly doesn't care. Granted, that's only one example, so maybe it's better in other sectors.

And if it's even 30 seconds after their scheduled shift they literally drop everything they're doing and just walk out. It's really crazy.

---

But their suffering means I can save moneyyyyy

---

IdiotMachine posted...

I'm an engineer, and every single time I deal with a unionized employee within our company (drafters or facilities), I hate our interactions. They never have a sense of urgency to them; it takes literally weeks to get anything done (getting a desk installed, getting a door installed, getting ethernet drops, etc.). And if there are any issues (not done correctly, or way past the quoted time), we literally can't even talk to them. We talk to their managers, who talk to their union reps, and then that finally gets filtered down to the unionized employee, who doesn't give a shit.

We had a ticket in to get a TV mounted on a wall in a conference room, and that was finally done ~1 year after we issued the ticket. It's insane.

That last bit is wild. Takes at most 20 minutes to hang a wall mount.

---

IdiotMachine posted...

I'm an engineer, and every single time I deal with a unionized employee within our company (drafters or facilities), I hate our interactions. They never have a sense of urgency to them; it takes literally weeks to get anything done (getting a desk installed, getting a door installed, getting ethernet drops, etc.). And if there are any issues (not done correctly, or way past the quoted time), we literally can't even talk to them. We talk to their managers, who talk to their union reps, and then that finally gets filtered down to the unionized employee, who doesn't give a shit.

We had a ticket in to get a TV mounted on a wall in a conference room, and that was finally done ~1 year after we issued the ticket. It's insane.

You'd be begging for a union if your company had working conditions like Amazon warehouses.

---

Robot2600 posted...

Maybe everyone gives too much of a shit and these Union guys have it right. You bust your ass for your company and you know how much profit they make off of you.

Customers (like you) demand urgency on the things they pay for, rightfully so. If anything I do requires drafting support, I have to work harder to get things done "in time" for drafters to draft something up, since it takes them a week to even do anything. Every time I walk over to their building, I always see them browsing reddit. It's insane.

---

Shadow Don posted...

You'd be begging for a union if your company had working conditions like Amazon warehouses.

Oh I don't disagree. What I'm saying is the opposite end of the spectrum (a union that's too big and powerful) is also a terrible thing. I hope these Amazon employees get their union, but also doesn't let it get too big to fail.

90% of the stuff I order off of Amazon, I absolutely do not need it tomorrow... let these guys relax.

---

IdiotMachine posted...

Customers (like you) demand urgency on the things they pay for, rightfully so. If anything I do requires drafting support, I have to work harder to get things done "in time" for drafters to draft something up, since it takes them a week to even do anything. Every time I walk over to their building, I always see them browsing reddit. It's insane.

I'm just gonna say here that browsing reddit all day is basically the norm with or without unions.

Anyway the only thing I don't like about unions is that I don't think you should be forced to join one. Union membership should be voluntary. If a union can't maintain power through voluntary membership then it's a sign that maybe the union isn't needed.

---

Fuck Amazon

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

I'm just gonna say here that browsing reddit all day is basically the norm with or without unions.

Anyway the only thing I don't like about unions is that I don't think you should be forced to join one. Union membership should be voluntary. If a union can't maintain power through voluntary membership then it's a sign that maybe the union isn't needed.

All workers benefit from the union's activities, which is why union membership needs to be mandatory(and the union needs to be structured in a democratic manner). Otherwise, you wind up with modern America.

DarkRoast posted...

While my views on virtually everything political have switched from conservative to liberal in the past few years, my views on unions have not. Speaking from experience, the only unionized employees we have at our hospital are the nurses, and to put it bluntly they leave us grossly understaffed all the time by deliberately calling out on the slightest whim, at the very last moment. It's gotten to the point where patient's lives have literally been put at risk, and their Union administration seemingly doesn't care. Granted, that's only one example, so maybe it's better in other sectors.

And if it's even 30 seconds after their scheduled shift they literally drop everything they're doing and just walk out. It's really crazy.

Do you think other business models condemn that?

Wake up dude. This is how the world works. 30 seconds past their shift means they're working for free and are not covered by employee laws and are actually doing something illegal.

---

Salary employees pissed that they become nonexistent when the hourly employee shift is up and they rightfully stop working because they're not being paid.



---

I heard Twitch (owned by Amazon) said fuck that and pulled the ads.

---

Wake up dude. This is how the world works. 30 seconds past their shit means they're working for free and are not covered by employee laws and are actually doing something illegal.

Tell that to the patient in ketoacidosis who didn't get their insulin


---

KINDERFELD posted...

Do you think other business models condemn that?

Wake up dude. This is how the world works. 30 seconds past their shit means they're working for free and are not covered by employee laws and are actually doing something illegal.

This is absolutely not the way the world works lolwtf. I know you'd be pissed off if a customer service/sales guy leaves you hanging in-store or over the phone because their time is up, let alone a nurse doing it to their patients.

---

IdiotMachine posted...

This is absolutely not the way the world works lolwtf. I know you'd be pissed off if a customer service/sales guy leaves you hanging in-store or over the phone because their time is up, let alone a nurse doing it to their patients.

Time = money, even in a hospital.

Sadly people like you will learn the hard way about the basic economics of supply and demand.
If my services as a nurse is needed past my scheduled shift, I stay on clock if OT is allowed. If not, I'm working on my dime and potentially not being covered by employee protection laws as I'm off my shift and should be headed out the building.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

Time = money, even in a hospital.

Sadly people like you will learn the hard way about the basic economics of supply and demand.
If my services as a nurse is needed past my scheduled shift, I'm working on my dime and potentially not being covered by employee protection laws as I'm off my shift and should be headed out the building.

And if you didn't properly hand off transition of care of patients to another person, you should go to jail for whatever adverse effect that has.

---

Unions are always better

---

DarkRoast posted...

And if you didn't properly hand off transition of care of patients to another person, you should go to jail for whatever adverse effect that has.

Exactly, but while I'm handing off patients I'm getting paid. When I'm off the clock, you could drop at my feet and I'll help you up and call another nurse to assist you.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

Exactly, but while I'm handing off patients I'm getting paid. When I'm off the clock, you could drop at my feet and I'll help you up and call another nurse to assist you.

Except you have nobody to hand off to, because the nurse who was supposed to take over called in sick because her uncle's friend coughed five days ago in California.

So basically we now have more patients than we can actually manage, and some have to be transferred to other hospitals or unsafely discharged. And those beds remain empty instead of helping people who desperately need it.

---

I can't get into specifics, but when I was in medical school I literally had a patient who had a stroke because the nurse in the surgical case left for mandatory lunch break and there was no assistant, so the patient was literally left on the surgery table for an hour with anesthesia and surgery.

This isn't business, these are lives. I totally understand the desire for unionization in certain sectors, but this isn't one of them.

---

KiwiTerraRizing posted...

Unions are always better

Ehhhhhh

---

Unions are all trash but Corporations being allowed to do as they please with workers is bad,too. It's like picking between which gun will shoot you. I hate it. There's n o better system because there is no way to make a better system under these circumstances

---

tremain07 posted...

Unions are all trash but Corporations being allowed to do as they please with workers is bad,too. It's like picking between which gun will shoot you. I hate it. There's n o better system because there is no way to make a better system under these circumstances

The problem is that on either side of the issue, people have very strong, authoritarian views on the powers the corporation or the Union should have.

---

And those views will never change so we're stuck because humanity ultimately only cares about themselves

---

tremain07 posted...

And those views will never change so we're stuck because humanity ultimately only cares about themselves

At the risk of sounding nihilist, I think this is the universe we live in regardless.

---

This is why Bezos "stepped down".

---

I guess as a salaried employee, I do have privileges afforded to me. For example, I can take time off whenever I want, don't have to work 40 hours a week, don't have to abide by working hours... hell, there are times at work when I say "fuck this I don't want to be here anymore", and just get up and leave at 1pm without needing approval or anything.

---

DarkRoast posted...

Except you have nobody to hand off to, because the nurse who was supposed to take over called in sick because her uncle's friend coughed five days ago in California.

So basically we now have more patients than we can actually manage, and some have to be transferred to other hospitals or unsafely discharged. And those beds remain empty instead of helping people who desperately need it.

Oh, so you're understaffed and nurses now have to cover more shifts, like they agreed to do when being educated to become a nurse? Is this your scenario? Mandatory OT due to staff shortages?

Do you know right now, nurses are making close to $10K every 2 weeks because of your described doomsday scenario? They're wishing there were more hours in a day now.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

Oh, so you're understaffed and nurses now have to cover more shifts, like they agreed to do when being educated to become a nurse? Is this your scenario? Mandatory OT due to staff shortages?

Do you know right now, nurses are making close to $10K every 2 weeks because of your described doomsday scenario? They're wishing there were more hours in a day now.

I don't need to be lectured on how nurses actually love the current scenario. All I care about is the fact that 25% of the hospital's beds don't have staff to cover them, so they remain empty even though there are desperately ill people who need them.

---

Soon:

DarkRoast posted...

I don't need to be lectured on how nurses actually love the current scenario. All I care about is the fact that 25% of the hospital's beds don't have staff to cover them, so they remain empty even though there are desperately ill people who need them.

So, educate and hire more nurses. Incentivize becoming a nurse.
Seems like a field most don't want to get into.
A thorough investigation needs to be done to figure out why. Only then can we do something about it. Overworking your already short staff is not sustainable and will only lead to the administering of poor care and ultimately, more deaths.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

So, educate and hire more nurses. Incentivize becoming a nurse.
Seems like a field most don't want to get into.
A thorough investigation needs to be done to figure out why. Only then can we do something about it. Overworking your already short staff is not sustainable and will only lead to the administering of poor care and ultimately, more deaths.

That's not her job though. She's just that one left holding the bag because other people won't come in.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

So, educate and hire more nurses.

Obstacles to firing just creates reluctance towards hiring.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Obstacles to firing just creates reluctance towards hiring.

Let capitalism sort that out

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

That's not her job though. She's just that one left holding the bag because other people won't come in.

Something she/he agreed to when becoming a nurse or doctor. They can easily find another field to work in. Nurses are well compensated for their time. If they are that overworked, a gamefaqs post bitching about it is not going to help.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

Something she/he agreed to when becoming a nurse or doctor. They can easily find another field to work in. Nurses are well compensated for their time. If they are that overworked, a gamefaqs post bitching about it is not going to help.

Why post anything on GameFAQs then? There's literally not a single post anyone can make here that will help literally anything unless maybe you need help with a video game

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

Let capitalism sort that out

It already has. It's called "your job has been deemed redundant", regardless of whether or not it actually is.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Why post anything on GameFAQs then? There's literally not a single post anyone can make here that will help literally anything unless maybe you need help with a video game

There are quick fixes that will make things seem okay for a while but if you really want change, you have to do it collectively but first you must realize the establishment is the root of your problems.

Ever see any CEOs on gamefaqs bitching about ANYTHING?

---

I'm all for unions protecting workers from getting abused from underpaid overtime but like... nurses should not walk away from life or death situations. That's insane lmfao. Now I have this cartoon in my head where a pilot just parachutes out of an airplane the moment the clock hits 5.

---

KINDERFELD posted...

There are quick fixes that will make things seem okay for a while but if you really want change, you have to do it collectively but first you must realize the establishment is the root of your problems.

Ever see any CEOs on gamefaqs bitching about ANYTHING?

Yes. IDK if you remember EMP or not but he used to bitch here all the time mostly about smash.

---

Tyranthraxus posted...

Yes. IDK if you remember EMP or not but he used to bitch here all the time mostly about smash.

Who is that?
I've been on here for a while too.

---

Shadow Don posted...

I'm all for unions protecting workers from getting abused from underpaid overtime but like... nurses should not walk away from life or death situations. That's insane lmfao. Now I have this cartoon in my head where a pilot just parachutes out of an airplane the moment the clock hits 5.

They should not in principle but based on economics, which governs hospitals too, it literally happens ALL THE TIME!!

A nurse will hold your hand till your last breath because you simply cannot afford the treatment needed to save your life.

---

I did years of similar work and experienced being part of a union and not. Honestly, not that much is different about the actual working conditions. It's just you can't lose your job for dumb shit...or often for anything. Theres still plenty of quotas but the red tape involved in enforcing any type of reprimand makes them fairly unenforceable. It's enough to allow your supervisor to scold you but that's about it.

The biggest positive of a union is that they'll actually fight for raises and benefits and stuff. I feel that the good outweighs the bad.

---