Quote:
Originally Posted by haertig
In my early years of work, I was an engineer supporting electronics manufacturing. Back in the days when manufacturing was still done in the USA, on assembly lines, by humans. For assembly line workers, they could not just get up and head off on whatever chore they needed (bathroom, etc.) because that would shut down the entire assembly line. Everybody there would be idled. Everyone on the line is dependent on the previous person in line to have competed their job. Conveyor belts moved product down the assembly line, with the expectation that each human would be doing their job. So while it sounds bad that bathroom breaks had to be coordinated (except during true emergencies), that was the reality of the assembly line situation. Amazon may have similar "assembly line like" scenarios. Or they may have had employees in the past that abused taking breaks. Or Amazon may just be sadistic morons with no motivation other than hurting people for fun.
People need to remember that they are hired not because the employer loves them to death, but because they are providing work that is of benefit to the employer. If people do not provide that benefit, it is right for them to be fired. If people are providing benefit, but do not like the work they have to do under their benefit/salary contract, they are right to leave. This is basic business 101. Amazon is not forcing people to work as slaves. I believe their employees are probably free to quit any time they want to, not that Amazon could do anything about someone just not showing up for work anyway. Except fire them (if they didn't already quit).
The "invisible hand" will control things. If Amazon is so bad for employees, word will get around and nobody will go to work for them. And Amazon will either sink or change their ways. You don't need governments or unions to enforce this natural sequence of things. Everybody can decide for themselves who they want to work for. Here in the USA at least.
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People need money for food/rent/medicine etc. to live. It may not be possible to quit, or quit immediately because of poor working conditions because they need the money. Technically being able to quit is not the same as actually being able to quit.
And there's many stories about the bathroom breaks of just Amazon delivery drivers which are about as far from your assembly line example as possible.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/amaz...ng-in-bottles/