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Now We Know Why Things Are So Cheap At Amazon

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mikey4444 | 09:16 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...
11:19 Mon 25th Nov 2013
@hc do I believe Panorama will give ALL the facts? Who knows, until the documentary airs? But we will probably end up knowing a lot more about their working practices than we would had the documentary never aired at all.

I have serious concerns about the way unskilled labour is being used in this country. This represents one facet of that market, but an interesting one.
@Chill "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."

No it wasn't ordinary, not ever. It was always exceptional, and thankfully only in place for a short period of time in our history.

Tell me again - you would be happy for workers, unskilled or otherwise, to be happy and grateful to be exposed to working conditions analagous to the battlefield? As a society, we should be willing to go along with that if it saves us as consumers a few quid over the course of the year? Sheesh.
All the facts. Positive as well as negative, hopefully....
Bottom line, are you happy to pay more?
> Arnhem and Monte Cassino <

> They are both doing what they do BY CHOICE, let's not forget that. <


none had a choice which place they were sent to fight they were just sent

Tell me again - you would be happy for workers, unskilled or otherwise, to be happy and grateful to be exposed to working conditions analagous to the battlefield?
----------------
Why not? Then they could see what a cushy job they have in comparison!
What instigated this programme? Some spotty youth from the Playstation Generation who one day got a job in the real world and suddenly found that at times you have to work hard in life and subsequently alerted the BBC, or were the Panorama staff short on ideas that week?
Every company has increased demand and a need for extra staff at this time of year and some make a tidy sum from hard graft, from shop floor workers to chief execs.
The future CEO of Amazon may well be working that floor right now.
Isn't it interesting that Amazon sought expert advice to ensure the shifts comply with all relevant legal requirements?
Looking after number one I guess and to hell with our staff.

So far Lazygun seems to be very much alone in looking at the bigger picture which should affect us all rather than "can we get something as cheaply as possible".
I was referring to today's modern forces in that respect DrFilth, who are all volunteers.
And no, some had no choice at Arnhem and Monte Cassino, they just got on with it. Thankfully for us, they did.
@Chill To me it beggars belief that you are so willing to countenance wartime frontline privations and dangers for unskilled manual labour with that comment "why not?" and the dismissal of anyone concerned as being a "spotty faced youth of the playstation generation". Facile, shallow and offensive generalisation.

You underestimate and demean the privations and damages to those serving on the frontline and the sacrifices of those who ended up in that situation by your casual comment about acceptance of such conditions for workers in peacetime in factories and elsewhere nowadays.
No LG, YOU beggar belief in accusing me of disrespecting and demeaning HM Forces.
You ever served? Worked a 12 hour day then had Guard Duty with staggered sleep breaks then worked the day after?
Brushed roads for a Royal visit? Dug a trench at an airfield in November just because the Prime Minister is visiting?
These are some of the more menial tasks I undertook. Yes, maybe had a moan about it at the time and a subsequent laugh but Panorama were strangely absent when I did.
If conditions at Amazon are so bad I'd have expected their workforce to be leaving in droves by now, wouldn't you?
It just appears to be more sensationalist rubbish at a time of year when online firms are busy. It's an opportunity for some to earn a bit of extra cash and gain a 'life experience' too, what used to be know in the Army as 'good, character building stuff'.
@Chill. By describing conditions of appalling inhumanity and privation- the frontline experience during the war - as normal, you cheapen the memory and service of those who suffered it, and as for relegating a whole sector of our community - the unskilled manual labour sector - to be happy or content to have a job under such conditions you enforce that demeaning of the memory.

And yes, I have served. Stop imagining that your experience is unique.
On other threads, mikey, you've advocated forced labour for benefit claimants and praised immigrants for taking jobs that 'lazy' British people weren't prepared to do. Can you see the connection now.
None of this will stop me buying from Amazon. They have a good choice of products for good prices, frankly, that is all I care about when money is so short.
This has got to be one of the strangest sets of responses to a question on AB I've ever seen. Let's replay an aspect of this conversation in miniature, shall we?

Mikey: "Panorama is showing a feature tonight that makes Amazon's employment practices look questionable. Are you concerned?"

Chilldoubt: "WORLD WAR TWO. OUR BRAVE BOYS AND GIRLS DOING THEIR DUTY. HELICOPTERS. FIRING. OH GOD HOW HORRIBLE WAR IS - NOBODY ELSE HAS ANY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN EVER."

Baz: "Women are rubbish."


....
I didn't say happy or content, just that some would welcome extra income (students etc) at this time of year.
OK, they may have to graft a bit in warm, sheltered conditions. Boo hoo, life is tough ain't it?

As I've said, if conditions are so bad at a firm in a Western society, why aren't Amazon struggling for staff? It's the build up to the festive period and they're just dealing with supply and demand, aren't they?
Lol @ Krom :-D
Keep the tin foil hat on, Kromo......
> why aren't Amazon struggling for staff? <

if you refuse a job your benefit is stopped so no firm is ever short of people these days, just phone up the job centre and they will send another 200 round for you to choose from
DrFilth,
In a BBC report from the Amazon warehouse that I watched last week they spoke to workers and management.
It was generally portrayed that a lot of the workforce there at this time of year were in fact seasonal i.e. students etc so there weren't too many people missing out on their 'benefit'.
"Baz: "Women are rubbish."

sorry, i cant see where i said that...still dont let that stop you from distorting and skewing anything thats been posted on here

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