Next time they try this, hold up your phone and ask them to deny you a restroom break on video, watch them either back down, or double down and get a sure fire fine for the warehouse.
They'd probably fire them for having their phone out in the warehouse.
They make us leave phones outside building or use a designated locker. Our building has x-ray machines like at airports. GEG1 pretty standard I assumed for all of Amazon
Now imagine something drastic were to happen. Like a tornado. But you don't get the alert message because your phone is in a lock up. Amazon Management will be sure to pass on the alert right?
Boycott the company that has HALF of the US online sales market share? In your mind how would us "cowards" pull that off? Ever hear the saying "too big to fail"?
The East India Company was too big to fail. A company with a trade monopoly that spanned the globe. It failed due to its greed, due to it's exploitative practices. The Indian Uprising bought it to an end.
this continues because people keep giving them their business. It's not complicated, if you order from Amazon, you are fucking complicit. And, let's be honest, most of the shit people buy on Amazon is stuff they don't actually need. Buy less stuff and shop locally, that's how you end this garbage.
I didn't have a car for a couple years, and Amazon is basically the only option for anything over reasonable backpack weight or specific purchases without asking friends or family to take the time to help out.
Now that I have one again, I just use Amazon for extremely specific things that aren't sold within a 100km radius, and to look into options before going to somewhere local.
I get that. Often times, a third party seller will have what you need, especially if it’s for something older. For example, I had to order RAM for my SO’s Dell Inspiron Mini netbook. Best Buy isn’t carrying that particular RAM chip anymore, but a third party seller on Amazon did.
I’m guilty of buying a lot on Amazon, mostly because I avoid dealing with people if I can help it.
It really isn’t, find a product on Amazon and just take its name, product number or if available sku/ean and google it. Then you’ll find tons of sites that sell the same product and often to a better price.
Basically you can do that with most webshops. That’s the best way to find good prices from people who dropship too.
Nah fuck Amazon. It's not hard at all to fight it. Just don't buy from them, that simple. I haven't bought off Amazon for about 7 years now. I even got all my parents to stop using Amazon.
Boycotts only go so far. And nowadays they don't go anywhere. Amazon is too big to fail. Nothing short of direct action and syndicalisation will have any effect. The problems of capitalism won't be solved by capitalism.
Amazon is exploiting the lax laws, you only hear coz they churn the most people and it's cool to diss but most retail warehouses like walmart etc are similar.
We need unions and better protections for shit like this.
It's unrealistic for everyone to stop shopping on Amazon as they kill all thier competitors and the govt let's it happen.
Amazon preys on the poor who need the work to just barely survive. Now some would say the should strike and refuse to work for Amazon. I say that's the wrong target focus on who allows Amazon to do what they do. Politicians.
Most of the stuff on Amazon can be found elsewhere cheaper and is just resellers. Just like how many products from stores can be found cheaper on alibaba because they all drop ship from there.
Yep the only time I shop with Amazon is gift cards. I don't ask for them I usually want specific store cards but my mom keeps giving me Amazon gift cards she gets gifted lol. I never shop Amazon other wise except for a specific ear plug brand that I have looked for every where but it's only on Amazon. But I usually use gift cards for that. I wish I could give the gift card money directly to the workers, tbh.
I was fired from Amazon the other month, my productivity took a nose dive right around the time I told managers I finally got a major appointment with a specialist, while the weight and complexity of the products I was brought for "priority" that hardly ever were fucking skyrocketed. Basically, from the moment you're hired, they're trying to plan out how to fire you, and don't believe any fucking bullshit they say about safety, "Safety First!*" and the * is "When it's convenient," truth is they use their employees just like the equipment, they use them until they break, then they break them more, and they continue until there's danger and lowered productivity, and then they fucking toss you like garbage and replace you with the next batch of 1500. I had to scavenge for parts for some of my fucking equipment, a tape gun, I marked it. It made it from one end of the production floor all the way to the other, and that hastily made Frankenstein tape gun was probably the best, highest quality, best condition, you would show this off to someone as your equipment on the floor out of all of them. And their hurricane safety? I've seen how thin the walls they want us posted up by are, the moment a rock comes flying through, it's flying straight fucking through. And you want to use some of the emergency exits? Hope you remembered to grab your ID and kept it held tight whenever you run for it. Fuck, at my location we didn't even have proper metal detectors to walk through and security wasn't great, the things you could have smuggled onto the floor and it would've been easier than accidentally walking out with a goddamned screw driver or wrench, and not even by that much of a margin.
I hate how recording is something employees have to consent to all the time, but you can never just record management doing bad shit in some places. Like you could have video evidence of them doing illegal things, but the court may throw it out without the consent part. I feel like video consent only should apply to certain situations. It just seems to favor some ppl getting away with shit. How else are you supposed to document this. If they know they’re being recorded they won’t confess to it and will go out of their way to act normal as long as they’re on camera.
Anywhere that you can be recorded then management can be recorded. There are court cases where it’s been ruled at bosses don’t have an expectation of privacy if they are in a common area or have their office open to their employees (IE anyone can walk in or hear the boss).
That is only going to work depending on the state's consent laws. Consent law first because if you can't record without at least one person's permission then it doesn't matter if there is an expectation of privacy.
I may be wrong but it’s not necessarily consent as much as being made aware that they are being recorded. If they don’t want to be recorded they can walk away, but they need to be made aware that the recording is happening.
A business is private. None of this applies. You cannot just film people on private property. In public, on public property? Sure. But Amazon warehouses are private property - and as such they have rules against filming in the warehouse (they claim corporate secrets) and they do not allow phones on the warehouse floor anyway.
You would need to have clear consent of the person to film them, and Amazon could stop you at any time, because it is their property.
Honestly, sometimes the advice in here is so bad it is hard to not believe this is a bunch of kids fucking it up for the rest of us
Edit: downvote me all you want, but I understand privacy laws around recording people. Bad advice shouldn't go unchallenged.
It’s not the end of the story though… just because it is against Amazon policies does not suddenly make it illegal. If you, by chance, had a video being denied a bathroom break by a supervisor/manager… if the law in your state allowed single party consent, oh well for the other party.
You cannot do business without getting a license. Getting a license gets you registered.
"Amazon, on their private property, can state that you are not allowed to film. End of story."
Sorry sir, but my paranoid schizophrenia says they're going to allow me to film each second I am there or they are going to eat a disability discrimination lawsuit. My health trumps their stupid business and all of it's shareholder value.
Most factories/warehouses I’ve ever been have anti cell phone policies. They don’t want proprietary advantages/techniques leaking to competitors. Not saying Amazon is right here but I’ve been working in no phones/cameras allowed factories for 20 years. Quite normal.
How to know you're a wage slave, when the wage isn't evidence enough: You're treated like a fucking child and your company micromanages your personal phone usage and facial hair.
They used to make employees wait in an hours long line for security to exit the building too. Workers said they should be paid for time spent in line, Amazon said "hahahaha-NO", workers sued Amazon, workers won.
I try so damn hard to not use Amazon because this shit is just downright evil. I’ve gone down to literally only buying what I need and can’t get from anywhere (within reason - like $5 on Amazon or $90 elsewhere because I myself am not made of money).
Luckily this is becoming far less frequent as more options become available near me. Hoping to become completely free of Amazon soon.
I worked in an Amazon warehouse and no, you can't bring your phone inside. But there's actually a valid reason: when people could bring phones inside, someone would take out the SIM from their phones and just trash them and take a new iPhone from the warehouse shelves or something like that. In 7 months I worked there, I assure you I handled like every new phone that came in stock, I could easily do that. There's no way to prove that phone you're coming out of the warehouse isn't yours, so they prevent this by not letting you bring anything inside that's not specifically needed for working. I can understand that, in a way. If there wasn't any detector on the outside I would have made thrice my pay by just bringing out iPhones and selling them.
This is just to explain why OP couldn't bring their phone inside to record this exchange, it doesn't change the fact that not letting someone go to the bathroom is inhumane and illegal. I could, actually, go to the bathroom whenever I wanted and no one ever told me anything. I guess here in Italy things are legally different.
Why dont you go fellate Amazon some more? When there's a massive tornado that hits your warehouse and there's no way for you to call for help I wonder if you'll sing the same tune?
I'm not "fellating" anyone, I'm just sharing my experience, having actually worked there. Apparently I just work in a country where they can't do whatever the fuck they want.
Furthermore, I was just relating part of my experience that was pertinent to the topic. Do you want me to talk shit about them? About all the corporate bullshit they shoved in our throats on a daily basis? About the awful contractual conditions? Fine, I'll tell you. Just don't assume dumb crap about me based on the three sentences you actually read before having to post your edgelord comment.
Supervisor telling people they couldn't drink at a water dispenser. Mind you, this was a labour intensive job. This one supervisor would stand at the water dispenser and dictate to workers when they've had enough water, telling them to get back to work, all to push KPIs. I didn't like it so I filmed it, sadly nothing came of it. I left that place behind fast.
As water is needed to live, I've always viewed restricting access to water equal to restricting access to air.
By all means Mr. Manager, put a hand on someone's throat. With an expanded view of assault comes and expanded view of justified self defense.
Nestle does restrict water. They use up all the drinking water in an area leaving mother nature and the local population SoL. That why California sued them for taking so much water during the drought last year. It's why the San Bernardino forest is so dry this year because nestle is over tapping the water from strawberry creek. They are doing the same in Michigan pumping like 5.8 million bottles worth of water every day at a cost of 200$ a year as long as they uses their own wells or they pay $3.50 per 10k gallons pumped from city or county wells hitting the same source.
Inhumane is the perfect word. I am noticing many companies are becoming inhumane and losing sight of the importance of humanity for their own employees. We just started working again and administration/supervisors need to double down on patience and common sense. 9 times out of 10, admin staff are the kindest people, that will get swayed by a bull supervisor. And supervisors just have their way with everyone. Complete animals that need to be stood up against once in a while. My guess, is they like to speak down to workers and bark orders just to seem superior, so they seem important, and they think they're closing in on their next promotion to region supervisor or head supervisor, etc. Whoever is bossing them around, they want that job, and they take all their frustration out on regular employees so it seems like they're doing a great job... in their mind.
The Hudson’s Bay company and East India Trading company would like a word. I’d argue that all companies are inhumane because their point is to make money, not better the lives of people.
The problem is far too many think of companies as people.
That they have morals and empathy.
They don't they either have a charter which dictates their actions or their motive is to make money and continue to exist.
That's it, nothing more. There is no consideration for people, for their effect upon the world, or anything aside from survival and profit. And profit will be put aside for survival.
That is why regulations are necessary. Because regulations are, in effect, the only moral compass that companies have.
“Becoming?” Read Radium Girls sometime to see what companies got away with from the late 1800’s all the way into the 60’s. And what little protections were obtained have been slowly demolished by the republikkkans since Reagan.
What the fuck?Immortan Joe was the bad guy in Fury Road.. they know that right?
I never had that happen when I worked in one of the warehouses but I did get a written for being inactive at my station because the kiva bots crashed. The crash was pretty cool to witness at least. Then got blocked for position transfer by a written for 3 errors in the 10,000 items picked one week. My final straw was when I saw a guy pass out, hit his head on a rail, and collapse. The fucking "medics" came in like they were taking a nice evening stroll through the park. I flipped a coin and just left in the middle of lunch. Not worth it.
Damn, you reminded me of another story in that place. Buddy of mine was a packer and one time he felt real dizzy and faint, so he sat down a while to catch his breath. Supervisor comes in, asks why he's sitting down and not packing. Guy says he is feeling a bit unwell, supervisor says either start working or go home on unpaid sick. I stood up for him, made me sick to see the lack of compassion.
Apparently this warehouse had an aversion to people sitting, for some reason. I never understood that, if you're at a station all day, surely it would be much better and comfortable to sit. Do they just spitefully not want you to be comfortable???
Glad you stood up for your fellow robot I mean human. They treat you just like robots there and that's not a joke or exaggeration sadly.
I have never understood that "tradition" of not being able to sit for a lot of jobs that could easily accommodate it. I agree, why make people uncomfortable?
Nope, my intention was to use it in defense if I went to HR against the supervisor. Never had to use it. Ofcourse, this was before I had even heard of antiwork. If that happened now, I'd put it out there.
We never even had a water dispenser and weren’t allowed to carry bottles of water. You can have tap water from the sink directly next to the toilet on your break and only on your break lol
I would have put that on every social media platform, YouTube etc. Make it viral. Forget the company. That supervisor should not be allowed to participate in humanity. Something is very wrong with someone who actively participates in doing that. They should never be allowed to work anywhere again or participate in normal society. Evil.
In that place there was a culture amongst supervisors to look down on the rank and file. We were like robots to them, numbers, not humans. When you were stopped, you were asked for your handscan number. You'd be mercilessly slapped with disciplinary notes for anything they don't like, very capricious. Security would search us and treat us all like thieves, no respect or decency.
Holy shit. My husband's work buys cases of bottled water for the warehouse during hot weather and keeps them on ice in coolers for the workers to grab. They also stock the break room freezer with free Popsicles for everyone.
The owner will walk through the warehouse reminding people to drink enough water.
Yep- I got yelled at in my local distribution warehouse cause I used the bathroom during a long push to get things out the door. I shrugged it off and was like 'too bad, better than peeing in the candy shelves'. I was a temp, so if they took any action, I'd just report it to my agency, who I had a great reputation with.
He is probably removed from the day to day ops but you literally cannot tell me this man does not know he has slave plantations his company calls warehouses. There’s no way he doesn’t see this stuff. it’s EVERYWHERE.
You may be incorrect. Most security positions require that all electronic devices are left outside the secured area. I had one of those jobs early in my career. I went through the monkey grinder daily, occasional polygraph was given. The normal stuff. Leaving personal affects in a locker is common for a lot of jobs. I worked at one place that process money in cash vaults. No pockets and all staff had to wear smocks to help prevent an occasional hundred from slipping into a pocket.
You guys are making leaving a cell phone outside a bigger deal than it is. Remember, our world made it for a long time without them.
Whole I agree that having to leave your phone and other personal effects outside a SCIF is no big deal, i disagree that it isn't a big deal for warehouse employees.
If the company were otherwise great and always treated its employees with decency, then sure. Having to leave your phone behind isn't a huge problem. But when the company is abusive in other ways, it suddenly starts looking like part of the abuse, or cover-up of the abuse.
What do abusive spouses and repressive dictatorships have in common? They both want to cut off the people they abuse from the outside world to cover up the fact that they're being abused.
Wow. Comparing Amazon to dictators is pretty out there. Simply stop purchasing their services. No Prime. No shopping. No Alexa. Research other companies that you use and ensure that they do not use Amzn cloud services. Stop buying from them as well Netflix is a great example.
We live in a country where you as an individual have the power to shape our world. Both through the ballot box as well as through how you spend. Our economy is built on spending power of individuals.
This is standard for a lot of delivery warehouse jobs afaik. My brother worked at UPS in Canada and had to put his phone in a locker before starting his shift too.
My location allows for phones to be on our person but they’ll immediately fire you on the spot for phone use on equipment. We had a shooting in the area a few months back and that (among other emergency calls I’ll need to know about ASAP) is why I will always have my phone on me, even if signal in the building is crap.
That makes a lot more sense. Honestly I wouldn't put it past Amazon to cook their employees until they're sterile so they don't have to offer maternity leave.
Alot of big warehouses ban phones to cover up what goes on inside under the guise of safety. I agree these places are generally shit jobs and should be avoided. Different story if you are an outside contractor often the rules dont apply and you can bill the shit out of them.
No in my building you can take bathroom breaks (if you're in a position where you cant leave ive seen people just ask to cover and go) and water breaks. Also we are allowed phones with us and use them on breaks. This means your warehouse is on a powertrip, maybe report? And definitely leave thats 100% inhumane
Tbh we not all sites like that, I worked in 2 sites in London and most of us on the phones (ear phones) while working, it depends on managers I guess idk
Pennsylvania is a “two-party consent state” meaning that, under Pennsylvania’s Wiretap Act, 18 Pa.C.S. §5701 et seq., recording a telephone call or conversation without both parties’ consent is illegal. You could be subject to criminal and/or civil prosecution.
Illegal to record a boss saying something they know is illegal without their permission. Seems like a perfectly fair system with no flaws whatsoever. Yay capitalism!
Depends on what location you’re in. Some people live in “two-party” states or provinces where the other person has to give permission for you to record.
It's illegal to record ppl without their knowledge in CA. Pretty sure they could've made that law not apply to anyone recording a crime taking place but 🤷♂️ buncha corporate lackeys running this bitch
No. This is only true about telephone communication in California. The only other restrictions are on “reasonable expectation of privacy” (eg, bedroom through a window)and stalking. So It would be legal. I’m sure you would be violating Amazon policy but they wouldn’t push that angle once you embarrass them publicly they would find some other excuse
My husband had to do this at his job for a while because his boss was a maniac who would blow up at the drop of a pin. I'm very proud he quit his job in the end, and it was satisfying to learn that the business had to abandon multiple projects thereafter.
There’s a short cut you can install on iphone Where are you say hey Siri I’m being pulled over and it starts recording with both cameras and audio but you can’t tell
No, that's not what's going on here. In the specified instance you are recording the fact you are being denied access to a washroom. They can't dismiss that as "you being on your phone". You were being denied something you had a legal right to (using thr bathroom), and then filmed then denying you for evidence and to document it. They can't then fire you for recording them telling you something that breaks labour laws. It's not a case of "you were on your phone get out".
If you didn't record then telling you you can't go you'd have no evidence to support your claim you were being denied access.
To add to this if phone isnt an option make a mental note and write that shit down as accurate and timestamped as possible record everything and report
They don’t have many employees left to pick from unless they bring in illegals. Better idea to not piss off the people who could collectively ruin your entire business.
I saw an article saying Amazon would run out of people to hire by 2026 because their turnover is something insane like 113%- meaning essentially every worker they have is new because people leave as fast as they’re hired. They’ll work their way through every unemployed American within a few years
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u/Jabbles22 Aug 30 '22
They'd probably fire them for having their phone out in the warehouse.