Amazon Workers In Scotland Forced To Sleep In Tents To Save Money

[Deleted]

During the festive season, you’ve probably ordered at least one present from Amazon. And who can blame you? The online mega store offers express delivery, secure payment and… miserable working conditions.

The US company has come under fire again after being accused of exploiting workers at one of its distribution centers in Dunfermline, Scottland, to the point where some have been forced to sleep in tents near the warehouse to keep up with their 60-hour working week.

http://www.konbini.com/us/lifestyle/...ts-save-money/

the beauty of capitalism

[Tijuana]

http://www.konbini.com/us/lifestyle/...ts-save-money/

the beauty of capitalism

Does the UK count as a Capitalist country???

[lockedout]

Don't work there, problem solved.

[Deleted]

Don't work there, problem solved.

i'm pretty sure most people would not sleep on their workplace if they had a choice

[lockedout]

i'm pretty sure most people would not sleep on their workplace if they had a choice

They do have a choice, you aren't forced at gun point to work there.

[Jtbrig7390]

They do have a choice, you aren't forced at gun point to work there.

Hmmmm to have a job or not to have a job.......

I think most will take the job, even more so when they got a family to take care of.

[Deleted]

They do have a choice, you aren't forced at gun point to work there.

when you have bills and a family and there are not enough jobs for everyone you are forced at homelessness-point to work anywhere you can

[lockedout]

when you have bills and a family and there are not enough jobs for everyone you are forced at homelessness-point to work anywhere you can

Then don't complain, at least you have a job.

[Independent voter]

They're probably making overtime pay. I assume they can quit.

[Deleted]

As someone who works in warehousing in the UK, I have heard some shady shit about Amazon, but honestly this story doesn't seem that bad.

Amazon put on a bus to bring people to work (I know a lot of companies do this free of charge), and the charge for the bus is more than an hours work, so instead of catching the bus, they camp out so they come straight to work.

Now, the problem with this story is the assumption that its forced. I know people where I used to work who'd sleep in the breakroom inbetween shifts because they wanted to get as much overtime as they could in the christmas season (any retail/warehousing company will put on a lot overtime during the christmas season).

However the sad fact is, that being a picker in a warehouse is a low skill job and if you don't like it you can be replaced quite easily. No one is forcing you to work there, and there are plenty of other min wage jobs out there.

[cuafpr]

60hr work week, so 20hrs of over time pay, to sleep in a tent.. for a week or two out of the year, around when i likely need the money the most.. DEAL.

[Tijuana]

As someone who works in warehousing in the UK, I have heard some shady shit about Amazon, but honestly this story doesn't seem that bad.

Amazon put on a bus to bring people to work (I know a lot of companies do this free of charge), and the charge for the bus is more than an hours work, so instead of catching the bus, they camp out so they come straight to work.

Now, the problem with this story is the assumption that its forced. I know people where I used to work who'd sleep in the breakroom inbetween shifts because they wanted to get as much overtime as they could in the christmas season (any retail/warehousing company will put on a lot overtime during the christmas season).

However the sad fact is, that being a picker in a warehouse is a low skill job and if you don't like it you can be replaced quite easily. No one is forcing you to work there, and there are plenty of other min wage jobs out there.

We have robots do this in the Amazon warehouse in my city. The Scots must work for less than whatever it is you pay a robot.

[Deleted]

Then don't complain, at least you have a job.

providing jobs does not entitle you to treat people like trash

[Deleted]

We have robots do this in the Amazon warehouse in my city. The Scots must work for less than whatever it is you pay a robot.

£7.35 ($9.08) per hour, according to the article from the OP.

So yeah, its min wage work, but no one forces you to take a min wage job, there are plenty available.

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They're choosing to camp instead of losing an hour's pay. While I get the whole bit about struggling to make ends meet and we can argue that they should have to provide a living wage, surely this isn't the only near minimum wage job in existence, so why doesn't anyone else have to camp out?

We do provide a living wage in the UK, but its only for people over the age of 25, the numbers that article puts foward are just short of the current living wage of £7.85 an hour.

As for why don't other people camp out? They probably do. But distribution centres are usually built away from population centres due to the size of them and Amazon is a big international company so the article gets more clicks if they can put Amazons name in the title.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Isn't this just to save time, and not as if Amazon is forcing people to live in shanty towns near their warehouses?

[lockedout]

providing jobs does not entitle you to treat people like trash

They aren't forced to camp.

[Deleted]

Isn't this just to save time, and not as if Amazon is forcing people to live in shanty towns near their warehouses?

when you are one of the most profitable and fastest-expanding companies in the world is it too much to pay your workers enough so they can take the bus to live like decent human beings and sleep at home with their families ?

[lockedout]

Isn't this just to save time, and not as if Amazon is forcing people to live in shanty towns near their warehouses?

Yes but OP didn't read that part.

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when you are one of the most profitable and fastest-expanding companies in the world is it too much to pay your workers enough so they can live like decent human beings and sleep at home with their families ?

Then don't work for that company, this isn't difficult.

[Deleted]

Yes but OP didn't read that part.

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Then don't work for that company, this isn't difficult.

what don't you understand in "they don't have a choice because of economic pressure" ?

[lockedout]

what don't you understand in "they don't have a choice because of economic pressure" ?

They don't have to work there and they aren't forced to camp, this is just some clickbait nonsense.