“We have to keep up with my pace. My workday feels like an intense nine-hour workout every day. And they keep an eye on every movement – if your computer does not scan, you are being charged for being timeless,” said Bates, a learning ambassador who helped train other workers at the facility and who was a vocal organizer behind the union. “From the beginning, I have learned that if I work too slowly or give up too much time, I can be disciplined or even fired.”
Bates was invited by Senator Bernie Sanders to speak on the topic ‘Income and Prosperity inequality Crisis in America’. Amazon’s outgoing CEO, Jeff Bezos, was also invited to speak, but turned down the offer. In a statement last week, a spokesman for Amazon said: “We endorse Senator Sanders’ efforts to reduce income inequality with legislation to raise the federal minimum wage for all workers to $ 15 an hour, as we did in 2018. ”
“We take the feedback from employees seriously, including Ms Bates, but we do not believe her comments represent the more than 90% of her colleagues in her Fulfillment Center who say they would recommend Amazon as an excellent workplace for friends and family, ” an Amazon spokesman said in a statement Wednesday, adding that Amazon employees “earn at least $ 15 an hour, receive comprehensive health care benefits and paid leave.”
Assets described ten-hour shifts with just two 30-minute breaks that ‘are not long enough to give you time to rest’ given the extensive scope of the facility.
“Just walking the long way to the bathroom and back takes precious breaks,” Bates said. The lifts in the facility indicated signs indicating that they were only ‘material, no riders’. “I could not believe that they built a facility with so many elevators for materials and had the employees take the stairs to a large four-flight facility.”
As CNN Business reported earlier, Amazon was waging an aggressive anti-union campaign that led to the vote. Workers are regularly briefed on Amazon’s position that a union is an unnecessary expense. Workers saw anti-union directions on the bathroom stalls; they were drawn in one-on-one meetings on the warehouse floor and also had to attend group meetings every few shifts. The company sent numerous text messages to workers and launched an anti-union website warning against paying fees: ‘Do not buy that dinner, do not buy those school supplies, and do not buy the gifts, because you do not have that nearly $ 500 you paid as a fee. ‘
“It’s frustrating that all we want is to make Amazon a better workplace. Yet Amazon acts as if they’re being attacked. Maybe if they spend less time – and money – stopping the union, they’ll hear what “And maybe they’ll create a business that’s just as good for workers and our community as it is for shareholders and managers,” Bates said.
“Why can such a large and prosperous enterprise not do better for their workers?” Bates said. “Amazon even took away our essential workers’ pay in the midst of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Amazon made a lot of money during this crisis. Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world. And now he’s even richer thanks to our workers.”