Steel mills might have gotten above 100 degrees.

with unfair trade practices under the Bush administration. They are bullies as a corporation, when Texas asked them to pay their 32 million in taxes they owed, they moved out of state. They never had air conditioning in their Texas warehouses. Amazon is pure f'ing evil in my book.

Amazon seems to suck more every day.

they lost a battle they'd been waging at the state level for years. They went into these states to open warehouses and save money on shipping. (plus, no one economy had enough workers desperate enough to work for them). by having a physical presence in that state, they were forced to collect taxes. Initially most states agreed with just the warehouses, but as they took on business partners, called "affiliates" in each state (the affiliates were merchandise providers) the states took a different view and wanted taxes. Amazon bullied many states, usually by cancelling contracts with affiliates, effectively forcing them out of business. With California, they had a different fight. Initially they stopped doing business with their affiliates. that caused problems but California held strong. Amazon agreed to collect taxes in California, with a one year grace period. During that time, they tried to get the internet sales tax passed. The "Amazon Tax" bill everyone heard about. Here's an article about it with a map showing where states stand with Amazon. It's from 2011, but I don't know if much has changed. There was little action at the state level because they took the law up at the national level. (It died in committee in the house and pass with about 70% for in Senate).
http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/whos-winning-amazon-tax-battles.html

It's a long article but even just reading the first page will provide one with good info.

Also, regarding the "Amazon Tax" aka "Marketplace Fairness Act". Amazon thrived because they had an unfair advantage. They didn't have sales taxes like the brick and mortars. Well, when they had to start paying in California, they wanted everyone to pay. They didn't want anyone else to have an advantage. It's sickening I know. Here's how the msm reported that part:

Until recently, Amazon was firmly against the online sales tax. But as the retailer has grown it's become interested in expanding its physical operations into more states, paving the way for faster and same-day delivery of goods. Now the company is a big supporter of the law, which will help it stay competitive against other online-only retailers as it moves into more states.

Sickening the ownership corporations have over our main streem media.
Anyway, thanks for letting me rant. lol

I, and I'm sure others on DU, appreciate the fact that you took the time to research this and offer the knowledge you have gathered on DU for our consumption

And, BethMomDem, belated welcome to DU. I like your spirit!

i didn't know they had such inhumane labor practices

(it's actually in Charleston, Tn, which is a tiny city in Bradley County, whose "big city" is Cleveland). These people make an almost 80 mile round trip from where I live, but they are happy as hell to do it!

My son just got a job there. He has absolutely NO warehouse experience, and he is starting out at $11.50/hr! As far as the "mandatory overtime"?? It's only 10 hours, which is one day. They work 4 days a week, 10 hours a day, then have a 5th day they work at overtime pay {time and a half}, so $17.25/hr. He's looking at $632.50/wk before taxes. That's damned good money for a kid who just turned 20 years old, no? He's already talked to friends and family working there, and they are going to work out a carpool system too. They tell you ahead of time that you could be lifting up to 35 lbs repetitively, and can sometimes walk up to 12 miles a day during a 10 hour shift if you're an order picker.

Trust me, I read through the entire "Welcome/Orientation" book they sent home with him when they hired him. They repeatedly tell you to make sure you stay hydrated, and to dress for comfort. They urge you to wear shorts & T-Shirts during hot weather, and use common sense. Sounds to me like some people didn't read their books and/or didn't pay attention during their first day, which is an orientation class.

Peace,

Ghost

I wonder why that is?

*me* work 6 and 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day, sometimes more... and I did it because #1: I LOVED what I did and got paid damned good money to do something that was more of a hobby than a job and, #2: I provided well for my family. I worked for a company, but I also had my own side jobs I did, and my son always wanted to go to work with me when he could. He was on some construction sites with me since he was 5-6 years old and all he did then was pick up small pieces of scrap wood and throw them in the burn barrel..or pit.. depending on what we were using at the time. He just wanted to learn all he could, even as he got older. He was helping me set tile when he was 9!

My main job was as a Superintendent at a General Contracting business where I was a high-rise ironworker, metal decking roofer, certified welder and a carpenter. I've worked on 15 to over 20 stories in the air on metal roof in over 100 degree temperatures, and when it was freezing, in single digits and when it was below zero.

I had my own business on the side where no job was too small or too big. I would build anything from a bird house to a school house, and it didn't matter if it was wood, steel or metal stud framing. My son learned a WORK ETHIC from me, just like I did from MY father!

Maybe too many kids today are too lazy to work hard, because they were raised by the television and XBOX or PlayStation and they whine whenever they actually have to do some REAL WORK. "It's too hard!" "It's too hot!" "It's too cold!" "I have to work a whole TEN HOURS?!?!?!" .... call me the whaaaaaambulance!

I'm also absolutely SURE that YOU haven't talked to "every other Amazon employee in America" or you would KNOW that some of them wouldn't give up their jobs for the world. I KNOW for a fact that you haven't talked to my friends and family that work there. You see, we live in the 4th smallest, and one of the poorest, Counties in our State. The good thing about it, though, is that the cost of living here is very cheap. The ones who make the kind of money they do live like Kings around here.

Yeah, there are some, maybe many, who can't handle the hard work and whine about it all the time...or just quit. Then there are the ones who CAN handle it, stick it out and work their way up.

Peace to you and yours, BethMomDem

Ghost

who are also much older than he is. That's why I was confused. It really has nothing to do with morality or things that you taught him, unfortunately, although it's great that you instilled the drive in him that you were able to.

Not everyone can though. For instance in most areas children aren't allowed on constructions sites, its a safety hazard. If a business insurer in my state found out about such a thing, well the coverage would be cut off rather quick. It's cool that you live in a state where you were able to take your child to work with you like that, but like I said, most can't and in the construction business it's pretty much unheard of. Both YOU and YOUR son seem to have really great luck.

But not everyone does.

More great luck. I mean my parents, grandparents worked their hands to the bone, unfortunately there was a lot of illness and disability in my family. So instead of putting in overtime or being able to invest in starting their own business, they were busy taking care and supporting family members who were otherwise unable to fend for themselves. I like to think that the work they did, and I do that we didn't get paid for instilled a work ethic in our children as well. I hope it did, I certainly would have been disappointed if my children hadn't grasped the fact that raising three children is A LOT of work, while also working a full time job and taking care of my disabled mother, but fortunately I'm pretty sure my children understand that They are some smart cookies.



I don't want my children working ten hours, no child should work ten hours. With robots and efficient technologies replacing labor our children should be more focused on college(unfortunately it's unaffordable for most)or broadening their mind. 10 hours? Nah. There just isn't a need for that, especially if your going to be putting in those ten hour shifts at a company like amazon that is raking in billions and NOT EVEN FAIRLY COMPENSATING THEIR EMPLOYEES. I don't want my children being used like cattle.



I have spoken to many Amazon workers. I volunteer for a law firm that does pro bono work for laid of workers. So in one aspect you are right, I don't hear about the workers that are happy with their jobs, I HEAR FROM THE WORKERS WHO ARE UNHAPPY WITH THEIR JOBS. The ones who are suffering from back pain and laid off for completely fabricated reasons because the company doesn't want to own up to its workman's comp obligations. I recently helped file a petition for a worker who had been fired because she used the bathroom too much. True, it's her word against theirs, but she does have a documented medical condition that has weakened her bladder muscle. Apparently, and I'm not sure of the technical terms, her immune system attacks the muscle sometimes preventing her from urinating other times she looses control and is unable to hold her urine in. She has to empty a catheter bag regularly or risk spilling urine all over herself.

I'm sure there are happy workers at Amazon, hell in this economy I'm sure even the overworked and underpaid workers at Amazon are still glad to have a paycheck, nonetheless, this doesn't mean they don't deserve fair compensation for their labor and time.

$10.50/hr. Maybe it's something they worked out with the State as an incentive program for them to bring the Plants here? Hell, when they talked the Volkswagen Plant to coming to Chattanooga, the State put in exit ramps on each side of the Interstate that leads right to the site they chose, with the name of the road to the site being "Volkswagen Drive".

I have no problem with my son working 10 hours a day, if he chooses to do so. He just turned 20, is in good health and is in very good physical shape. He's very active, yet constantly complains of being bored.

By the way, the only time my son ever went to a regular construction site (my main job) was on a Sat. or Sun. when I was only going to be there to check a few things out for a punch list, or to plan what was going to be the work for the following week. The jobsite was deserted, no work going on. If my crew was with me and going to work, we were the only ones there those days and he couldn't go because he'd have to sit in the truck. I did take him one time, but we were building an addition on an elementary school, and he was at the opposite end of where we were working, playing on the basketball court, and I could always see him from the roof. I took him to my side jobs, and no one minded, they thought it was "cute" that he wanted to learn to work like his daddy. Did I mention I was also a single father?? My daughter, a year older, preferred to stay with grandma and play with her friends. I raised my kids alone since they were 3 & 4 years old, but couldn't have done it without the help of my parents. I never had to worry about who was watching them.

As for the lady with the bladder problem, I believe that is called Interstitial Cystitis. My younger sister suffers from it. She was working for Walmart, was hired under the Americans With Disabilities Act, and worked there for almost 6 years. She was employee of the month in her department every month, and was even offered the managers position but declined because it was a salaried position, and worked out to more hours for less pay when she figured it up. Under the conditions of her employment, and with documented letters from her doctor, she was allowed to leave if she got too bad to work her full shift, she was allowed to miss as many days as needed, and they could not fire her for it. Many days she worked even when she was in severe pain, never took advantage of the days off she could take, and had a stack of excellent work performance reviews. She was trying to set an example for her kids, too... as a single mother.

Somehow, the manager of her department found out that my sister had been offered her job and she got vindictive. My sister always made copies of the schedule and put them on her fridge. She was scheduled to work on a Sunday, after being off on Saturday. When she came in Sunday, the manager asked her "what are you doing here, you were supposed to work yesterday? Oh, and by the way, we have been getting a lot of customer complaints about you, so we're letting you go!" She called the store manager Monday, and found out it was all BS. The complaints were about the manager, and that's why my sister was offered her job. The next call she made was to a lawyer. To make a long story short, the Discovery Process found no records of customer, or management, complaints about her. She's been out of work for 2 years, keeps getting denied disability, or even Tenn-Care coverage, so it's hard for her to see a doctor. Her lawyer told her last month that Walmart made an out of court settlement offer, but it wasn't good enough and they are supposed to go to court in January. Walmart DOES NOT want to go to court. Her lawyer has done nothing but specialize in Walmart claims for the past 12 years... after leaving Walmart as one of *their* lawyers! I don't want to disclose too much, but she is looking at a very nice settlement.

Again, Peace to you and yours, and may I add... Welcome to DU.. I forgot to say that last time

Ghost

That sound you hear is me cheering for your sis. Being screwed over like that is so maddeningly wrong and unfair (bd, dt) and I really want her to walk away from this set for life

will do that unless they are absolutely sure they have a winnable case. One of the best parts of this.... he caught the manager fabricating, and forging, write-ups and warnings and putting in my sisters file. She didn't know he already had her files and reviews from the Corporate office and they didn't contain these reports. He contacted the store manger and confronted him with the documents and he denied signing them, or having any knowledge of them. He went back to her department and fired her on the spot! On top of the fraud and forgery charges brought against her, she is also facing a slander/defamation of character lawsuit of her own.

Thanks for your good wishes for her...

Peace,

Ghost

at my job! I'm glad for him.

made it to $10.00/hr, but that was 25+ years ago....

Peace,

Ghost

The only ones I have been in that didn't seem horrendous were operated by FedEx SupplyChain.

It's not companies like Amazon that are the problem, it's the lack of worker protections under US law that are the problem. Companies will do what they can legally get away with. Things like at-will employment, lack of statutory paid leave, and inadequate health and safety regulations are the problem. The few worker protections afforded under US law are laughably weak (for instance, to qualify under the Family and Medical Leave Act, one must have worked for one's employer for a year and clocked 1250 hours).

They use the profits they make, which are derived from labor, to lobby heavily against legislation aimed at strengthening worker protections or increasing wages.

because I am poor. However, I do chip away at my great passion, history. I track down obscure books from a certain period and often find them from individual sellers on amazon for very little money. I can buy one of those once in a while.

Have never bought anything direct from amazon though. Have long known about their horrible working conditions & refuse to support that even with the tiny bit of spending I do.

Julie

and paid 2 dollars less shipping by NOT USING AMAZON.

The meme that they offer the best prices is obviously false.

They charge you 3.95 to ship you something that only cost them $2 to ship and make their money that way.


I ordered something recently from the marketplace. The price for the item was cheaper from Amazon but with shipping was more.
I paid $2.50 less total from the marketplace for the same item.

Link: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/retail/amazon-confirms-fulfillment-centers-in-hillsborough-county-lakeland/2148585


With the heat and humidity of the central Florida summers the workers will be dropping
off like flies if Amazon doesn't provide adequate A/C and ventilation in these facilities.

He said it was backbreaking horrible job. He wanted to earn extra money for Christmas since he was let go from his salaried with benefits job because the company only wanted contractors in his right to work state. He is also a fox rush guy right winger but not so far gone. Anyway he quit the job at amazon early because he said it was slave labor!

He will not allow anyone in his family to ever order from Amazon again.

The story describes pretty much exactly what any reasonable person would expect of Amazon's business practices!