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Now We Know Why Things Are So Cheap At Amazon

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mikey4444 | 08:16 Mon 25th Nov 2013 | News
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25034598

This is why I won't shop at Amazon. Its little better than slave labour. No unions as well, so nothing to stop Amazon getting away with this. Watch Panorama tonight.
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@ummm well we shall see, shan't we? Labour laws should indeed protect us, but such laws surrounding pay and working conditions have been eroded somewhat over recent years, it seems to me. Take the minimum wage, for instance - we know that, by law,all employees are entitled to at least the minimum wage for their labour - but there has been much evidence to...
10:19 Mon 25th Nov 2013
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Emmie...don't confuse me with that facts then, as I have already made my mind up ?
and in comparison with workers in some of these slum factories churning out goods for not just the western market well they are employed, that isn't saying much i know, but you should watch the documentary on the factories in Pakistan, it was work or don't and simply starve, if you look at most goods like clothing it's made overseas, and there is little or no difference if you buy so called high end street fashion or somewhat down market cheaper stuff, as the documentary proved. H&M, Primark, and Zara all had clothing made in these factories, and not all is cheap as chips.
no idea what your last comments mean, however if you rather the workers didn't work, or indeed starved then so be it. I bet Amazon is a better employer than many, as i said i won't be watching.
Lazygun, I posted the delivery driver job before I saw your post.
£8.25 an hour is above minimum wage. The employees are working in a dry and warm environment and not dealing with the sorts of things some others on a similar pay scale have to deal with, such as abattoir workers, sewage plant employees and many other jobs that need you to up to your ankles in gore and muck. Or up to your elbows in the mess humans leave behind.

Just seen this advert for a bus driver - the pay rises to £8.25 an hour after 6 months.
https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/GetJob.aspx?JobID=2304369
That job needs qualifications, training and is also a high stress job.

You need to get in to the real world if you think Amazon is paying poor wages
Wow, up to 11 miles of walking? Must be sheer hell.
Still, better than clearing mines or having to carry an injured colleague across a field under fire to a helicopter in unbearable heat and dust to a waiting helicopter whilst under fire.

As others have said, sounds to me like some of the youth of today are getting confused between slave like conditions and what used to be known as 'hard graft'.
Lucky we had young men made of slightly sterner stuff at places like Arnhem and Monte Cassino.
lots of places operate like this where every little thing is timed, there are also plenty of places where a worker is expected to work overtime for no extra pay so does not get the minimum wage and they dare not say anything or they will be out of work with no benefits.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blw5_H9aw-U
if they walk a lot so do many in jobs far more hazardous, they are indoors, if they are replaced by robots, which could happen, then they have no job.
back bending picking fruit or crops is far worse i can tell you
oooh heres my latest order from amazon, wifi net plugs, ordered yesterday just delivered today although not expected until later in the week...cheapest price i could find.

ok, now to find cutter and foil for my leccy shaver....oh look amazon are the cheapest around !

someone please tell mikey his ideal little leftie Utopia doesnt exist never has never will....oh and get rid of that conscience of yours ..its costing you lots of money
@hc I live in the real world,as best I can tell :)

You mention other jobs that might be bracketed with the Amazon one, unskilled labour, and point out the benefits of the amazon role in comparison - warm, dry etc, and I am not arguing that point, I would tend to agree.

However, the pyschological stresses imposed by meeting very tight deadlines imposed by management - whether picking from shelves with an audible alarm, or GPS tracking of multi-drop delivery drivers who have to ensure all parcels are delivered before they can finish their days work even if circumstances take them well beyond a conventional number of daily hours worked - are very real. As a society, should we be happy at such stresses being imposed, or should we all be wanting working systems that offer a bit more flexibility, a bit less stress?

What I am asking is simply what should we, as an affluent western country with a liberal democratic society consider acceptable? Are there any conditions or pay rates that should not be countenanced at all, in your opinion? Should such unskilled workers content themselves with only the status quo or should they aspire to better working conditions or better remuneration for doing the same job?
chill, exactly, carry your mates across a booby trapped mine field, or work down the mines for years, that would soon sort the men from the boys.
Personally i would take the job if there was nothing else, as to Amazon
i have bought stuff from there occasionally, i can't say i ever think about the workers, i do however think about the gift for a loved one it will be.
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Emmie...thought my meaning was abundantly clear but....The forthcoming Panorama program should contain information about Amazons working conditions but you appear to have made your mind up without knowing all the facts. Which is your prerogative of course.

You are right about the likes of Primark. Their clothes are made by children, in dangerous factories in places like Bangladesh, but bought by, women in Britain, who probably don't need them in the first place. I seem to remember that Primark was exposed by another TV investigation, perhaps Panorama again. I can't recall ever shopping in Primark before the program but I certainly wouldn't want to go there now. But to some here on AB this morning, its a case of " I want my £3.99 pair of jeans and I don't care or even want to know how they are so cheap"
"Lucky we had young men made of slightly sterner stuff at places like Arnhem and Monte Cassino."

wonder what the outcome would have been if half our forces were women ?

today if you want equality but cant keep up with the marching cadence you can sue and get yourself a tidy £100k in damages

if the conditions at amazon are so bad they can always try and join the forces...if theyre up to it of course
how to improve the conditions then, it would seem many of these extra jobs are for the christmas rush, so does that mean they won't be working there after it's all over? adequate breaks and a proper lunch time with getting out the place should be on the cards if it isn't already. That is a fair system of work. If you are only going to be doing it for a few weeks it might mean working flat out, it only can become a serious problem when you do a job that is so horrible year in year out, it leaves you with no hope, and that is something i did. But as said needs must because at the time there was little else on the job front.
Lazygun, I honestly can't see anything wrong with the Amazon jobs. The pay is on a par with some jobs that are more stressful and need qualifications. The working environment is safe.
@ Chill "Wow, up to 11 miles of walking? Must be sheer hell.
Still, better than clearing mines or having to carry an injured colleague across a field under fire to a helicopter in unbearable heat and dust to a waiting helicopter whilst under fire.

As others have said, sounds to me like some of the youth of today are getting confused between slave like conditions and what used to be known as 'hard graft'.
Lucky we had young men made of slightly sterner stuff at places like Arnhem and Monte Cassino."

Why do you even consider this is an appropriate comparison? Wartime with peacetime? Under fire, death and destruction with an ordinary working week? What exactly are you trying to suggest? That we should be happy even if the working conditions were exactly analogous to wartime? That workers should be happy and grateful if their conditions are only marginally better than wartime on the front line?
If enough people get on Amazons case ...dont worry they can always move their operation somewhere else....... and take the jobs with them
what has women in the forces got to do with it, and don't you think women fought in WW2? or served their country in a thousand different ways.
Had Germany and Britain been led by women way back then, chances are we wouldn't have gone to war in the first place, there are better ways of solving disputes very strange analogy i must say. Amazon are a large employer, that is a good thing in these straightened times.
Do you believe that Panorama with give ALL the facts?
Well I will be watching the programme with interest. And I do believe that we should not be grateful for jobs at any cost.

And as for Amazon moving - if they wish to continue to access the extremely lucrative UK market given their business model - just where outside the UK are they going to move to, Baz?
Why do you even consider this is an appropriate comparison? Wartime with peacetime? Under fire, death and destruction with an ordinary working week?
---------------
Because for a select few, that is and was an ordinary working week but they didn't have a bloody Panorama 'investigation' about it!
HM Forces and Amazon workers do have one thing in common though.
They are both doing what they do BY CHOICE, let's not forget that.

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