• [UK] Amazon workers sleeping in tents outside warehouse.
    34 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Hard pressed workers at Amazon have resorted to sleeping in tents close to the company’s fulfilment centre in Fife, The Courier can reveal. At least three tents have been spotted in woodland beside the online retail giant’s base just off the M90 in Dunfermline in recent days, sparking concerns about the depths some employees are apparently plumbing to hold down a job. The company came under fire last month from local activists who claimed that agency workers are working up to 60 hours per week for little more than the minimum wage and are harshly treated. Amazon dismissed those allegations and said it values its employees, maintaining a “culture of direct dialogue” with them. However, the news that some of its staff have taken to roughing it on bitterly cold winter nights has prompted renewed questions about employee welfare. One worker, who did not wish to be named, was reluctant to speak to The Courier but did describe the firm as a “poor employer” and criticised working practices at the Fife site. He added that he had opted to stay in a tent as it was easier and cheaper than commuting from his home in Perth, although his camping equipment had disappeared by Friday afternoon. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP, who has repeatedly called for the firm to improve its working conditions and its tax record, once more criticised Amazon after learning that some workers had apparently taken to staying in the woods. “Amazon should be ashamed that they pay their workers so little that they have to camp out in the dead of winter to make ends meet,” he told The Courier. “Amazon need to take a long, hard look at themselves and change their ways. “They pay a small amount of tax and received millions of the pounds from the SNP Government so the least they should do is pay the proper living wage.[/QUOTE] [url]https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/fife/325800/exclusive-amazon-workers-sleeping-in-tents-near-dunfermline-site/[/url] Noticed these tents coming back from the Edinburgh side a few times and had always joked I bet its some workers staying there. But didn't realise it was on-going.
At this rate Amazon might as well provide room and board like FoxConn
[QUOTE=The golden;51509058]Yeah from what I've heard, working at these warehouses is absolutely terrible. Like Sub-Walmart levels of terrible.[/QUOTE] My cousin used to work at the site in Dunfermline. Heard the same thing from him.
[QUOTE=RocketSnail;51509051]At this rate Amazon might as well provide room and board like FoxConn[/QUOTE] And suicide nets.
The sad part is I've heard it's not much better for the engineers working at corporate level
I used to work for Amazon myself, I'm glad to see more revealed about them.
[QUOTE=Hogie bear;51509067]My cousin used to work at the site in Dunfermline. Heard the same thing from him.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=The golden;51509058]Yeah from what I've heard, working at these warehouses is absolutely terrible. Like Sub-Walmart levels of terrible.[/QUOTE] Having worked at Dunfermline, I can confirm its shit. Long shifts, shit pay and next to no breaks. Not bad canteen though... expect you spend about 20 mins in it scranning your food then getting ready to go back to work. (dont even get me started on the Percentage Performance System, where you are constantly monitored for your item rate. Good rate, told to increase it. Bad rate, told to increase it.)
Fuck sake, I almost considered a job there just to get off UC but the commute would have been shit.
[QUOTE=Svarr;51509092]I used to work for Amazon myself, I'm glad to see more revealed about them.[/QUOTE] Care to elaborate on why?
Having to work up to 60 hours a week on a pay that is barely above the minimum wage. Because raising it is bad, right guys? :downs:
[QUOTE=The golden;51509058]Yeah from what I've heard, working at these warehouses is absolutely terrible. Like Sub-Walmart levels of terrible.[/QUOTE] I work in a warehouse that is across the street from an Amazon fulfillment center and a lot of our employees are former Amazon workers. Not a single one of them has a good thing to say about that company. But honestly, warehouse work in general is pretty miserable.
I work in a warehouse loading pallets of food into trailers. Once you get past all the bullshit HR blows up your ass, it's a decent place to work. [editline]10th December 2016[/editline] My warehouse might be a special case though. My company flew me to another warehouse in a different state and that one was fucking awful.
I know that the warehouse here in Wisconsin is part automated. Robots take up half the building and its split across multiple floors and are the end caps for the whole thing. Makes the actual working area small as hell in comparison. Now its mostly people standing about doing things that are put in front of them.
I remember watching the Amazon warehouse workers on Panorama (or a similar show) a year or two ago. It was absolutely appalling.
[QUOTE=jordguitar;51509473]I know that the warehouse here in Wisconsin is part automated. Robots take up half the building and its split across multiple floors and are the end caps for the whole thing. Makes the actual working area small as hell in comparison. Now its mostly people standing about doing things that are put in front of them.[/QUOTE] Which warehouse in Kenosha, because I work in one of those. We're doing 60 hours starting Sunday. Fucking kill me
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;51509431]I work in a warehouse that is across the street from an Amazon fulfillment center and a lot of our employees are former Amazon workers. Not a single one of them has a good thing to say about that company. But honestly, warehouse work in general is pretty miserable.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Del91;51509446]I work in a warehouse loading pallets of food into trailers. Once you get past all the bullshit HR blows up your ass, it's a decent place to work. [editline]10th December 2016[/editline] My warehouse might be a special case though. My company flew me to another warehouse in a different state and that one was fucking awful.[/QUOTE] Maybe. I work for the Cracker Barrel Distribution Center and it's not too bad there. Physically demanding, as I'm one of the loaders so I get to stuff anywhere from 1900 to 2900 cubic feet of general flotsam onto the thing box-by-box, but the pay's not bad all told(I have less than 2 years [i]total[/i] experience in the workforce and I'm already five bucks an hour above min wage at one of the lowest paid positions in the facility) and the people there are great. I even get an hour lunch! Shame these other companies can't run their warehouses like CB does.
[QUOTE=TestECull;51510550]Maybe. I work for the Cracker Barrel Distribution Center and it's not too bad there. Physically demanding, as I'm one of the loaders so I get to stuff anywhere from 1900 to 2900 cubic feet of general flotsam onto the thing box-by-box, but the pay's not bad all told(I have less than 2 years [i]total[/i] experience in the workforce and I'm already five bucks an hour above min wage at one of the lowest paid positions in the facility) and the people there are great. I even get an hour lunch! Shame these other companies can't run their warehouses like CB does.[/QUOTE] The turn-over rate of people at Amazon in the UK and other general warehouse picker-packer type work is so high they don't have to give a shit more people will fill the gap.
I worked for them at a warehouse for a month. The first day the agency I was with said "we can fire you as quickly as we hired you" to the large group of new workers I was with. They also fired me while I was off sick (with a doctors note, serious back injury). They said they didn't because I was with am agency but when you turn up and your card does not work any more... Hmm sounds like being fired to me.
[QUOTE=TestECull;51510550]Maybe. I work for the Cracker Barrel Distribution Center and it's not too bad there. Physically demanding, as I'm one of the loaders so I get to stuff anywhere from 1900 to 2900 cubic feet of general flotsam onto the thing box-by-box, but the pay's not bad all told(I have less than 2 years [i]total[/i] experience in the workforce and I'm already five bucks an hour above min wage at one of the lowest paid positions in the facility) and the people there are great. I even get an hour lunch! Shame these other companies can't run their warehouses like CB does.[/QUOTE] I started out with $6 over the minimum wage and two half-hour breaks, but the employees at my warehouse are the most miserable people I've ever met and the mandatory overtime really drags your soul into hell. [editline]10th December 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Yffulf;51510622]I worked for them at a warehouse for a month. The first day the agency I was with said "we can fire you as quickly as we hired you" to the large group of new workers I was with. They also fired me while I was off sick (with a doctors note, serious back injury). They said they didn't because I was with am agency but when you turn up and your card does not work any more... Hmm sounds like being fired to me.[/QUOTE] That's generally how my warehouse works. They don't say it as bluntly as that, but it's pretty clear that [I]anyone[/I] in the building is expendable. A friend of my brother's who worked at my warehouse came in with a doctor's note saying he's only allowed to do light duty because of a back injury sustained from a car accident. Management looked at the card and said it "wasn't to company standards" so he wasn't allowed to do light duty, but because he was clearly unable to do regular work, they told him to just go home and come back with a better doctor's note - and every day he was [I]forced[/I] to stay home, he gained an occurrence until he was gone anyway.
[QUOTE=Yffulf;51510622]I worked for them at a warehouse for a month. The first day the agency I was with said "we can fire you as quickly as we hired you" to the large group of new workers I was with. They also fired me while I was off sick (with a doctors note, serious back injury). They said they didn't because I was with am agency but when you turn up and your card does not work any more... Hmm sounds like being fired to me.[/QUOTE] That's how they did it at my warehouse too, they really work you to the bone and spit in your face for doing it; I recall one time I was coming back from a trip to the restroom to see a guy cheerfully going to HR to quit that very night, the absurd thing about it was the only thing I told him was, "wait until 9:00 PM, that way you'll get a full hour's pay." It's truly the only place I've worked in my life where, looking back at it, I can't actually say I feel proud doing it.
I've worked at an Amazon Fulfillment Center for 6 months now and honestly, I don't have any complaints. And it seems not many of my co-workers do either. Mine must be an exception
[QUOTE=Dalndox;51509952]Which warehouse in Kenosha, because I work in one of those. We're doing 60 hours starting Sunday. Fucking kill me[/QUOTE] Main fulfillment one. But last I checked its $15/hour and $18.5/hour OT so every week that's almost 1k a week gross pay so depends on the person really. The Kenosha one is much better with not having hundreds of people running about trying to pick things so there's that. One job we can all agree that should be automated. I think that pay rate is for actual amazon employees not amazon's temp company's pay rate.
looking over this thread reminds me how much better off I am now that I've left the warehouse life after 6 years. if you guys can't feasibly find a way to unionize, use whatever free time you have left to hunt for a better job, no joke. you all deserve better than those shit working conditions. to them, you are nothing more than expendable muscle. [B]get outta there asap[/B]
[QUOTE=jordguitar;51512702]Main fulfillment one. But last I checked its $15/hour and $18.5/hour OT so every week that's almost 1k a week gross pay so depends on the person really. The Kenosha one is much better with not having hundreds of people running about trying to pick things so there's that. One job we can all agree that should be automated. I think that pay rate is for actual amazon employees not amazon's temp company's pay rate.[/QUOTE] Base pay for a fulfilment associate is not that high, I can tell you that. I work on the dock. It's bone-crushing work but I'm a lot happier here than any other job I've had.
I worked there for a week it was disgusting they treat you like a pig for barely above minimum wage, I quit within the week after one of the managers had it out for me tried to always tell me I wasn't entitled to a break and that I had to stay an extra 3 hours because the "job wasn't finished".
[QUOTE=AncientFryup;51513377] and that I had to stay an extra 3 hours because the "job wasn't finished".[/QUOTE] My warehouse operates like this. No one is allowed to leave until all orders are filled and trucks ready to be loaded; I've worked 8 hour days and 12 hour days before. However, it's understandable since my warehouse holds medical equipment and supplies for hospitals and it literally could end someone's life if we all decide to leave after 8 hours with orders left to fulfill. [editline]11th December 2016[/editline] It just really sucks when people call out and you have only three quarters of the usual shift people there to do a shift and a half worth of work.
There's an interesting episode of Radiolab regarding Amazon warehouses. [url]http://www.radiolab.org/story/brown-box/[/url] Never realized how fast-paced & KPI central they were.
I load shipping containers and rail cars etc at a large chemical company, and I thought my job sucked. At least we have a union and they have a decent respect for their workers. Puts things in perspective a bit.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;51513470]My warehouse operates like this. No one is allowed to leave until all orders are filled and trucks ready to be loaded; I've worked 8 hour days and 12 hour days before. However, it's understandable since my warehouse holds medical equipment and supplies for hospitals and it literally could end someone's life if we all decide to leave after 8 hours with orders left to fulfill. [editline]11th December 2016[/editline] It just really sucks when people call out and you have only three quarters of the usual shift people there to do a shift and a half worth of work.[/QUOTE] That's what we do. We don't leave till the work is done. I've had 5-6 hour days and I've had 15 hour days, but they shoot for 10s. I can assure you that you won't make many friends if you take off before the work is done.
[QUOTE=Del91;51515293]That's what we do. We don't leave till the work is done. I've had 5-6 hour days and I've had 15 hour days, but they shoot for 10s. I can assure you that you won't make many friends if you take off before the work is done.[/QUOTE] It's difficult to make friends to begin with, especially with such high turn over rates.
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