Amazon exec gets ripped to shreds by Labour MPs over working conditions in select committee hearing
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- Опубліковано 14 лис 2022
- Amazon's Head of Public Policy in Europe, Brian Palmer was in front of the BEIS Select Committee, where Labour MPs challenged him again and again on the companies draconian approach to workers' rights.
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Ex Amazon staff here - this makes me deeply fucking happy to see them being bollocked for being shit employers.
Me too as driver, what the MP said about them not being listened to at all is so true. The workload is inhumane. The hotline never worked lol.
read my comment, be interested if you had a similar experience
Glad you got out alive. Amazon needs unionising
Hey, as long as we consumers get our cheap goods the next day, or sooner, no one really cares < - - - that's the problem (maybe?)
And that is a terrible state of affairs, when we don't care for those that are just like us, while the parasites at the top benefit.
Personally, I don't use Amazon (if it means I go without for a wee while, then so be it.)
SUPPORT LOCALLY.
:)
PS - Hope you've found better employment, citizen.
Not like anything will change though. The powers that be let Amazon do as they please, because money.
Just think of the tens of thousands of workers who have had a lot of money skimmed off their wages so this guy can pretend he treats employees well.
I think about the tens of thousands of complete and Utter morons and Retards that stay in a job they hate or unhappy at work FFS
Truuuuuuu
He is a parasite. A Bezos parasite.
😊😊😊
The word shithouse comes to mind
"I'm not an expert in UK enployment law" then WTF are you doing talking to a select comittee about UK law and employment rights?
Jeff saving cost
He was there to push the corporate speak lexicon…and failed spectacularly 😂
Typical amazon suit...talks "english".
Got to admire the MP's work ethic...they've done the homework to make this guy/amazon struggle.
I loved the effort to reach understanding or exposing of the aims of amazon.
Lastly..."fullfilment centre" is amazon speak for "huge computerised Warehouse"...FFS, that shows you what these people are up to.
They should go like, so you got no idea of your stuff, that's no problem for us we will just hand you your own arse until you do
more to the point, WTF are you doing, being one of the largest employers in the country?
Labour MP's carrying out the work we pay them for, unlike the tories.
Tories are in bed with corporate giants and always will be
Some of Labour are yes. John Tricker there for example very good left wing MP.
@Rosemarie Cardin No. You can't tar individuals with your opinion of Starmer. I'm very left leaning and see no future for Labour under Starmer BUT there are a good amount of decent Labour MPs. By decent I mean as people as well as politicians.
Tories are literally racist, xenophobic, fascistic con men/women. Almost to a man.
There are differences.
The same party that voted for mandatory experimental gene therapy to be injected into healthy people , locking the country down denying medical help( 7 million people now waiting for operations ) the mental development of children , denying the visitation of dying family members , almost bankrupting the country , making the rich richer and powerful and now we the people who can least afford tax rises are paying for it . Yeah Labour are really looking after your interests .
@@jake751 are you living on planet earth?
Word salad. Obvious corporate BS.
100%
Bezo says, he will give most of his wealth away, great, now start with the people who are helping you to create your wealth, your employees.
If he keeps it that way , he can maintain an image of benefactor, while still controlling everything, if he pays employyes mor and give them better condition he loses control...
Total BS, people like him will give nothing away unless they get something in return. Must be a PR stunt. I'm not even convinced by similar claims about Bill Gates anymore after some of the more sinister things I found out about him.
he would fit in with the tory lying front bench perfectly
I worked at Amazon for just under a month while I was in between jobs, it was a disgrace. People were nice enough, but the monotony, bitterness & passive aggressive guise where they pretend to be a modern company is such bullshit.
The example they used of the chap who was being threatened with the sack also happened to me, as a sufferer with ADHD I'll not be as fast as others & takes time for my brain to adapt to an environment. They just took this as 'I was a bit thick' but all under this fake niceness, which I found very passive aggressive. They give you no help or tips on how to improve, so I felt like crap for not being good enough, but at the time had to work there...
I now have my own thriving business & work when I want, so not quite as thick as they assumed
Are you hiring? lol, we have the same brain. But seriously how do you find the courage to start your own business. I am saving up and should have 20k in 3 months but I don't know how to take the leap and start my own business
It is not just Amazon. It is now like this everywhere now. Cos too many people relies on the "data".. and what they do not seem to know, or to realise is that, some people have been giving off the same set of datas... i.e. Daisy-chaining or recircling... So this is why, from their end-angle.. It seems to make sense. Cos somebody fed them lies basically.
Just like, the Ukraine war.. Somebody somewhere stated that.. The Russian PM was given lies by his own very intelligence people as well.. and if you noted.. other countries did not intervene to step up and to correct this as well. So then the country went to war. And of course, media showdown...?? You know. The usual. Out of every bad scenario.. There is always somebody making money. Always.
@@AA-ws2uw just don't invest in crypto currency
@@fuckbankers I've got some FTX stocks if you're interested 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@fuckbankers I would never, I don't even understand it. Thank you 😊
I haven't worked for Amazon, but I was a manager at a Tesco warehouse. Every employee was tracked, so we knew exactly where they were and what they were doing. If they stopped for more than a couple of minutes, someone had to go to their location to find out why. Also, the way temps were treated was appalling: summary dismissals for no reason, not knowing whether they would be working 90 hours this week or none etc. When I first started there, Tesco was an excellent employer: with good pay, conditions and benefits. That all changed.
I imagine Amazon is similar.
So you were part of that system as a manager? The person doing the tracking and pulling people up based on what an algorithm told you?
Tesco was once a pretty decent employer, but what I hear about them now is not good .
Unlike other major supermarkets, Waitrose isn't owned by shareholders and the City. Instead, as part of the John Lewis Partnership, it's owned by everyone who works for the Partnership. (That's why Waitrose staff are called 'partners'.) And every year they share the profits that would normally go to shareholders.
@@rosso2017 sounds like they started before it got bad and now left, possibly cause of the poor conditions.
I think you need to consider aiming your anger at those still there or who implement it rather than the person denouncing it.
@@jonsmith5058 : How can anybody take them down? Nobody can take them down now, can they? YOu are already using you tube.. to read this.. for free.. and you have no money, no heating.. and really a lack of food.. Who would be listening?? Oh right.. create a pitiful story like this, so then they edge it backwards ?? Slowly without killing you? ???? Who is "they" ???? When the rules of laws are broken.. and the very people who made things, are also in positions of powers that make policies that makes your life worst... Then what is left? They are in control. When people are in control.. and in power.. and then they also control the resources as well.... we are becoming a lower than low class. We are an under class now. This is what it is.
By Amazon's own standards Mr Palmer just got himself three productivity strikes in a single meeting.
Heartless boss......machine.
I wish that MP’s could similarly require the Prime Minister to actually answer the questions posed and not to give answers to different questions as they do here. This is how Prime Minister’s Questions should run. The person being questioned has to truthfully answer the actual question, and is not released until they do so.
YES.
Shows how much Tory MP's compared to Labour MP's care about workers.
whoever thought a tory would care about workers must have high hopes to meet Santa Claus soon again.
If you think Tory government or labour would stand up for workers against Amazon I think you’re slightly delusional
If you truly believe that any MPs from any party care about you, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. one careful previous owner, and it's going for a bargain price.
Love how he says they can speak to a "human" if they have problems.. His language tells you everything on how his mind works.. And how amazon works
Oh dear, oh dear - Amazon Man got caught out badly there on the discussion around the "two strikes" issue. His team's agitation at that point looked like they'd just been hit by a very smelly whiff of bullshit.
These tech executives are used to being the main guys in the room who always have the answers. To see this guy squirm and try to wriggle out of answering difficult questions was satisfying.
You can really see that they used to getting a much easier ride in the US.
Just imagine if the government was on the side of workers! Not that Starmer is, but Labour would be a lot better than the Tories' neoliberal nihilism.
They just refuse to take apart the tech and roll it back. This is what is happening. It is very simple to fix really. So where are their guys? OH... they did not pay them enough. Or boycotted them. Or allowed them to be blackmailed. So convert to a manual/auto hybrid then... The FIGURES.. and the TRUTHFUL audit should exist. Who is doing this systems' audit? I bet they don't have one.... That is why this has landed them in sh!t.... as well. An external audit of the employment law versus the implementation of the systems.. and the Business Rule specification (based on LAW).. should've existed to begin with. I bet they did not have this. lol.... (But it is a good piece of electronic engineering....) ... F!ck. ( I don't even know why I am swearing so much this week... This lockdown really is just... I am so so so SO angry.)
They always think the they're the smartest people in the room, and very rarely are. 😐
@@capt.bart.roberts4975 These types of guys start building an entourage of yes men as soon as they get to junior executive positions. That impresses the senior executives, and when they get promoted, they are impressed by the next wave of con artists with yes men, and the cycle continues till almost all corporate executives are semi competent weasels at best.
@@Matt_Fields_29 Corporate hierarchies are almost entirely ones of competence. Seems you have no experience of this.
When a company has over 100% worker turnover in a year, that is a company not fit for purpose and should either reform itself or be taken on by the state. A market but online is not an intelligent idea, it is not something that should make you the wealthiest man on earth, while the workforce has to pe e in bottles as they aren't allowed enough time for bathroom breaks.
Amazon doesn’t care it’s happy to burn through people so it can get to its next goal. It will be fully automated very soon. All it needed was the human capital of a few years to get there.
There was a guy in America who died of a heart attack. he wasn't allowed time off to go to the doctors or seek medical care because he would've been fired. There was also a lady that had a miscarriage, and yes pissing in bottles is real.
@@beckyboop3517 : Bring back currency control... I don't want this fin tech world.
The more I watch youtube in this lockdown, the more I realise just how much redundant projects there are. No wonder the whole green debate is up for grab. i.e. Do not be pointless.
they should pelt the managers with the full bottles
As for unions, Amazon UK literally just bribed their workers with a peanuts £250 incentive to stop them striking in the Black Friday/Christmas period..
When I worked there as a dsp there was a poster on the wall demonising unions couldn't make this shit up
@@russellcr0w What did the poster say?
Well... this.,. tells me enough. Amazon is now actually....doing basically..."fake empty box selling"... Meaning that.. this is now...... "money laundering"... in a BIG scale.
ua-cam.com/video/vOj-tRTbFfY/v-deo.html
@@lukesamuel5604 some stuff about unions reducing business effectiveness and therefore employee pay/benefits.
Some good leaked internal Amazon videos on UA-cam on their union busting practises.
Large companies have too much power. There needs to be more unions and more power to balance it out.
There are unions but government reduces union power and then re-write the script in favour of the employer.
When I worked there aa a driver there was a poster on the wall demonising unions
Precisely, globalisation has afforded these companies far too much leverage over ordinary people, and indeed, the hand of national governments. Strong unions are required to rebalance this trend. Particularly, in the private sector.
Doesn't need to be unions though. government can set workers rights and benefits, but as we know big companies pay off governments to favour their companies.
We need a massive change to stop oligarchs buying politicians.
@@beckyboop3517 : It exists... and this young American has not mentioned any single word of this.. and has absolutely NOT answered the questions posed. This is very typical.. AND normal too. If they just hired somebody from the UK properly. Would they get this kind of sh!t? Absolutely not. Plus... these people can indeed sue them. Obviously, they have not been sued... or that they will find an actual loophole ? So which way do you go ?? I bet that this has only reached this stage.. cos a lot of people in the UK including the City has shares in this organisation or something.. this is why they are promoting this. I don't even trust unions any more. Cos they do not do anything. I've joined before.. and they are very useless.. and just keep the administrators in a job. This is the sad thing of 21st century... Didn't expect the 90s to reach this stage of the millennia to be like this at all.
Well that guy is definitely getting fired, he finally admitted the truth although with a lot of obfuscation, after being caught out lying.
He may not realise it, but he's as disposable as any other employee there.
@@DoctorBastard - Yes !
" ...that's some handle , honey ! " 👍👍😈
I don’t know. I think he withstood the q&a quite well given that he has nothing to work with aside empty corporate phrases?
Sadly I can see he's still there.
"We are not tracking Union activity". That is absolute bull, it must be. In the US Amazon will just like other companies spend millions on Union busting as soon as they detect any trace of possible Unionization. They happily spend huge amounts of money on this rather than give their staff a pay rise or better working conditions. Why would that be any different in Europe. Obviously different laws may hinder this to a agree but I don't believe they don't do anything.
They have propaganda posters in the UK distribution centres against unions.
I imagine he means They don't, but they outsource union busting to expert consultants
Its also because they know that sum of money would cost nothing to them compared to the long financial needs for many years if they increase the pay just a little for thousands if not a hundred thousand staff members
Good to see him being challenged but the UK will soon have no employment rights, that's what brexit was all about.
& tax avoidance.
the Tories can’t destroy the country that much in 2 years, if they last the 2 years.
@@dannyfeller7034 watch them try 😢
@@dannyfeller7034 Look what they've done in 12 years, trebled the national debt, lost our place in the world's most successful trading block, lost our free movement, broken the NHS and trashed our reputation, never underestimate the harm they can cause, just look at what Truss managed in 44 days, I think that little experiment cost us £40bn.
@@dannyfeller7034 there's already a bill on this going through Parliament.
And this is what Royal Mail wants their company to be like.
Possibly worse because RM workers have a Union.
I have always heard amazon is a crap place to work. He kept repeating he didn't know uk employment law, as if we didn't hear him first time, but if working in UK do u not think he shld have learnt uk law?!! Obviously just thinking they r clever and going to get away with abusing employees as they do in USA. This is what's coming to nhs. Bosses who don't give a pooh.
It's already in the NHS!
@@jacquipope6222 & has been for a long time thanks to tony blair, he installed whole layers of extra management, more at our local hospital than nurses, but you can't ever see any of them...they're all too busy apparently.
How the hell it has taken so long to hold an Amazon representative to account …. is mind boggling. About bloody time.
Amazon's tax-to-turnover ratio at just 0.37%. The higher rate of tax for working people is 40%
@@getheroutofthetruck : People do not realise that, we are now a nation of actual business owners... and we are no longer actual citizens. So this is why... if people cared to look... this is a meeting between the "Dept of Business and Energy & Industrial Strategy".... who.. I translate it as...."UK government's own Management Consultants". In reality, there are no more small businesses, there should be larger businesses... and then they use Amazon. But so far... so many people prefers to keep the actual political model.. and do not want to let go of the UK political model.. and to integrate further either. You can see the same thing in Europe too. Cos they refuse to let go of THEIR soveignty as well... This is nothing new... So... Many people although we had actual free movements and things.. many people only go to Europe.. and then come back. They did not move back there permanently either... So... They did not rebuild their EU government...
What strikes me about this, is not just the fact that Amazon don’t care about their workers, but how other employers in England behave towards their staff. I was a teacher in a large secondary school, where I saw colleagues constantly put under pressure to improve results. There was also an expectation that teaching staff ran after school sports clubs, matches, revision sessions. Teachers have always carried out these activities. What they haven’t always experienced is the aggressive ‘performance management’ of staff. This is couched in terms of ‘supportive, collaborative, effective management’, but is actually controlling and coercive behaviour. In the old days we would call it bullying, because that’s what it is. Our youngest son lives in America, and is very happy there. However worker’s rights are awful. Barely any paid leave, maternity leave is called sickness absence, long and arduous days. We really don’t need to be celebrating or aspiring to the ‘American Dream’ here, because it doesn’t exist!
@@traceybanting3952 : What Amazon should also have done, is to cap the number of their "business owners" on their listings. Filter out the fake ones. Consolidate.. and have formal meetings with those groups of people. Make an exclusive distributors accounts etc. Focus them. THEN... protect both their interests as well as their own as well... This is not even done???... I mean.. I would want an actual... there should have been an audit as well by HMRC... I am sure that.. something is going wrong.. And that the European finance. or Central Bank is not adding to the... I just... this is absurd !!!...
@SONofTHC that’s an outstanding comment! 😊👍
This Bezo boss is reportedly donating his billions to charities eg Dolly Parton: corporate philanthropy, but what about paying Amazon workers a decent living wage/accepting Unions that are not corporate/ humanising productivity re health and safety / breaks / speeds etc etc etc or better still put his fulfilment centres under workers control , that would be really charitable and fulfilling for him surely?
The woman sitting right behind him looks like she's waiting for her turn to ask about a package that never got delivered.
Shes double dropped and rolling hard at this point. The endless blinking and jaw clenching stare give it away.
I wonder if the 3 sitting behind Brian Palmer were Amazon lawyers trying to look for loopholes for future damage control?
16∶25. The guy on the left is thinking "oh shit " as Palmer says "yes" ....while desperately shaking his head. Hahahaha
I noticed her also .. those eyes 😂
She’s creepy as fuck
I worked there for a month, feels like a concentration camp not a workplace. You are monitored from the second you step into the place.
correct
This is where the answer to the question lies. Tax Amazon and companies like them to high heaven
They will then take Amazon warehouses to another country. They’re scumbags
Their focus will be on productivity, will include people's productivity does he think people are stupid.
I want to know how much profit they make in the UK and how much tax they pay on that profit. Time for these big companies to be squeezed like they squeeze their employees.
It's no secret that Amazon UK alone has made something like £2 to £3 billion profit that has never been taxed, and this was something like 3 to 5 years ago. They will have greatly profited over Covid-19 pandemic because ordering online became an essential thing for millions of people. The UK has no lack of resources or lack of food and arable land to grow more, and yet we have food banks and people working full time but have to remain on social security benefits. And I don't mean they are fiddling the benefits system. People work 40 hours a week, and that money doesn't cover basic needs, so they give 85% of their wages back to the government so that they can keep their social security benefits. That is morally irreprehensible. And this is because we and the rest of the 'free world' refuse to tax billionaires and their global companies. The UK is double-jeopardy because we also refuse to tax the landed gentry. And yet our governments give global companies billions of tax payers money so that they'll set up shop in the Country. And this is not just the UK, the rest of Europe and the US do it as well. We are now officially back in a feudal system.
They can rip these people to shreds but nothing changes
The American Amazon representative has probably never been challenged much .He's definitely feeling very uncomfortable.
That is my cynicism and fear as well. It would be interesting to know if this Brian Palmer actually has executive powers to implement change, or that he just writes a report for his bosses to read.
It seems this American needs an English interpreter because my man is just winging this questions.
Deflect, Deflect, Deflect, what was the point of having this guy here.
Yes. A bit like PMQs
Fulfilment centres and human leaders makes Amazon sound like a dystopian nightmare. When did these corporations develop their own ridiculous language?
This ridiculous language is used intentionally to pretend that what is actually happening isn't happening, and that the corporation genuinely has the interests of its workers constantly in mind when it doesn't. It is very American, and is becoming more and more British.
@Loui D 😂😂😂
What is a Fulfilment Centre?
@@patriciahiggins9188 A place where people may fulfil their desires and dreams - that is to say, a common or garden warehouse!
It is dystopian. Amazon is becoming Autofac.
You know you've got a problem when you're talking about "human led functions in a fulfillment centre".....
Yeah it's so fucked up
I've done the odd stint at Amazon in between jobs. It's absolute bloody murder. The one good thing is, as you are employed through an agency, it's paid weekly. The hours are long, the work is tedious and targets set (items picked/packed/booked in per hour) are absolutely ludicrous. You get two fifteen minute breaks, which start the minute you stop working, but the warehouses are so massive you spend most of your break travelling to and from the canteen, or queueing to clock in/out. There was about 50 of us queueing for two machines that didn't work half the time. If you're late back, even by a minute through no fault of your own, you get bollocked. If you clock in early, you get bollocked.
It's a free labour market. if you don't like it. don't do the job. If Amazon cannot find workers, they will change.
It has absolutely nothing to do with MPs or, god forbid, trade unions.
From the 80's on, I have not worked anywhere that hasnt been shit. My best times were working in LOndon in the 70's, it was epic on all counts.
What an excellent line of questioning by MP's wanting to make life better.
Nothing changed!
We need to boycott Amazon. This guy lied to every question.
I haven’t used them for six years. It’s easy,you’ll soon get used to not buying a load of junk you don’t need.
I love how this guy uses the word "human" like it is an abstract concept. He's genuinely struggling to understand what he's being asked, you can see he's thinking to himself "why are they interested in workers rights"...and i'll bet this drop kick has never paid a cent in tax, I'd like to see the "heat map" on that.
When "gamers" bring their games to the workplace...
Oh no he fully understands what he’s being asked, he’s just trying to think of how to answer it in an obfuscating way to try and get out of giving an actual answer
7:08 I wish the politician just interrupted him and told him I don't care about your obfuscation just admit that yes. You discard your workforce so you have to give them no benefits they are entitled too as employees, but if they step out of line they are severely punished.
That's why I at most only use Amazon like some sort of Wikipedia for goods, check what's available at what cost and then buy it elsewhere. Similar scummy corp as Nestle. Both not getting into my house
Workers rights and Amazon don't mix, like oil and water!!!
Zero hour contracts?
Fullfillment Centre sounds so warm and cuddly. Unfortunately the workers aren't fullfilled.
No it doesn't. It sounds like stupid american corporate buzzwords. Just call it what it is: A warehouse or distribution centre. No one uses the word fulfillment in the UK.
FULFILMENT CENTRES???!!!
Surely he means warehouses?
It is an American terminology, they have both warehouses.. and then "location for packing"... i.e. To fulfill an order. So basically... Amazon can have a packing location business unit, whereby, they can help another small business, to both store their goods... as well as their own packing facilities as well. Say a small mom and pops store. You made something at home. Say 100 units. Then you use Amazon to both sell it (using their websites), as well as (pick, pack, and ship)..... to reach the customers. This is why, they are called "fulfilment centres". Cos inside those locations are stocks that belongs to other companies....
But they must have reached their plateaus.. or that people are starting to resell and resell..... i.e. Company A sells to Comp B... again and again and again.. inside the UK. So.... This is an issue, because, it means it has become 1) fraudulent in some levels, and 2) mis-indirectly self inflate... faster than Bank of England's predicted inflation.... This is why... it is not good to use Amazon this way. I get the impression that they are trying to do "global"..."at a flat rate".... Meaning that, if you send them your goods... You could sell your products, all the way in South America. (But how can that be... and how does that mix with the currency fluctuations? ).... Well... It then means that, this boils down to... bankrupt countries. And failed states. Cos how can these currencies not fluctuate ????? Right ? (My guess is that, this is why those so called "crypto"... is meant to exist... but how does that work, when they work separately??? And not via a single entity to control this???? What a farce!)
It spells that... there had been like a global two-tier currency exchange that has gone on for quite sometime.... Otherwise, how could this company exist like this ???....
Amazon works for Americans.. but they should NOT have opened up in other countries. No. If moms and pops made their goods, and sold on Amazon... then you have the green states that can grow food can make it work. And then other areas can produce other things, and make that work. Whereas in the UK.. we've always had our own actual supply-chains already.. and we sell by city-to-city..... It worked. And most people go to the city's main markets.. and then redistribute back to smaller towns and hamlets... It has always worked ! How can a global company enters a saturated market like the UK and basically cream the people from non-existence?????? Why haven't their own internal management consultancies not done their work ??? If all datas and figures are wrong. ... then pick up a darn geography book !!! Double check the government's own figures !!!! Those aren't wrong !
I'm currently working at an Amazon warehouse for the Christmas peak period.
The managers always say that safety is the most important thing, then quality (i.e. not making mistakes) and then productivity.
In reality the order of importance is: productivity > quality > safety.
Every shift you'll get messages on your scanner telling you if you're meeting your productivity rate or not.
Count the ambulances
@@fuckbankers Zero that I've seen thus far in my four weeks there.
Although, compulsory overtime starts next week, so that may change.
@@KMS2K keep safe.
@@fuckbankers Will do although I've already sprained my ankle since working there >_
@@KMS2K your health is the most important thing. You only have one body and one life. Don't sacrifice it for a soulless corporation who would fire you in a heartbeat - you're worth more than that! Do what you can but don't let them push you. If they do, quit. There are other jobs out there.
This guy could be a tory the way he tries to squirm out of answering questions.
I love it when a corporate suit is on the backfoot because the person they are speaking to can see through their bullshit
Just admit the basic fact that automation obviously reduces your workforce. It's not that difficult or complex, most of us are aware that when 'tasks' are done by automation they are no longer performed by workers...
The basic fact is that when automation actually works that what’s happens, but the reality is the hype of automation doesn’t quite meet the reality of it, and the currently reality is loss in jobs not in the scale your discussing, it’s more people’s jobs are more emeshed into technological systems and fragmented in them.
@@pancakeslayer101 hence fewer people required in total. The Amazon PR is pure sophistry.
@@pancakeslayer101 It makes no difference if the automation replaces the whole job or just a part of it. The end result is fewer working hours for human beings, whether that means a reduction in hours or personnel. If we didn't need to work to survive it wouldn't be a problem I'd be happy for automation to do it all. But we are headed for a dystopian corporatocracy and this is one of the methods used to replace us and hence make us redundant (not just in a work sense).
@Lies Tricks its not the only option AT ALL. We used to have a little thing called freedom of movement....
@Lies Tricks If they offered decent wages and working conditions they'd find more willing staff. That isn't a factor in why they automate...
A friend of mine did a month with them. He left because of the working conditions, they pulled him up and told him how many times he used the toilet and how long he was in there and it was unacceptable he only used the toilet 4 times during a 12 hour shift.
Anyway... if they do not sort things out.. I think they are now at risk of actually smuggling. Cos we brexited. So it means that, they cannot literally sent items to EU... if they do not have the proper paperwork. So why are they so insistent on this productivity? Sorry... just how much is this video... earning them in salaries? Plus.. those surveillance cameras... in China, it is part of their financial transaction. Why didn't the panel ask them..."does your facial recognition also monetise on the employee's facial information and health information without their consent to any parts of the world, yes or no" ?.....
I bet they measured the piss.
Oh... I also want to drop this here too.
HOW many items on Amazon's warehouses... are reaching US... in the UK... that is cost below par? If there is no need for Amazon, I rather that they exited. The end.
ua-cam.com/video/9_Ree4Dtg2g/v-deo.html
Trade balance... and UK is good to China, why ? We take in their second hand junk? End of line items? Still pretend that we can utilise it all ???
21:44..... The "War Room".... Huawei executives that watches and monitors... what... exactly.... How much money is in each European country ? How much of their sales exports happen????..... That map.... and those dots. Those locations....
ua-cam.com/video/O4spoHp4HhY/v-deo.html
Coincides with the location of many of these so called..."fu zhou police station" ?????...Really? Public security bureaus ??? Exact location.. point for point...
ua-cam.com/video/H4bkw0_w0uc/v-deo.html
As a British Cantonese.. I am fuming. Fuming that... I buy a mobile phone in the UK.. costing me around a mere 20 yuans or whatever it may be in China... and yet, we sell it for around a whopping mega.... 300-1000 pounds to the average family !!!!!!!! And then the next year, it is the same again !!! 1 year contract. 2 year contracts.... ENOUGH. If I buy a plane ticket, fly over to China, to buy, it is still cheaper, than for me to buy this item this way. Is there no inequalities in this world? There is !
@May L what do you mean by monetise on the employees facial recognition.
I have a vague idea…..but I don’t like what I think it is…
@@monk3yboy69 chances are it is what you think it is, I'd also be interested if there's a forced connection between an employee and their amazon account
Great questioning, masterful. This is the quality MP that we rarely see at PMQs
Don't use amazon.
It's been like this for every warehouse type employer... I worked for Halfords 15 years ago and was tracked around the warehouse, judged on speed, and the slowest performer every quarter was let go... It's not just Amazon doing this...
should be a remarkably impressive company, but the lamentable way they treat their staff, their dismal human rights record and their shamelessness in avoiding tax makes them quite simply an evil empire
Nobody forcing people to work for Amazon
The UK & EU should seriously consider banning Amazon and companies like it. We can have our own alternatives.
That line of questioning made me very happy. Didn't let that mouthpiece hide behind anypolciy squibble.
The woman behind the Amazon bloke looks like she is tripping lol.
Listening to this in full is pretty interesting. Brian Palmer begins pretty smugly trying to use his lexicon of confusion only to be smacked down multiple times and so badly that eventually the British guy on the Amazon side pipes up. Brilliant. I hope they are wall to wall unionized and their AI and “productivity benchmarks” significantly downsized the make jobs friendly to human beings!
Brian Palmer tries 'Bullshit baffles Brains' But Fails Badly
@@peterreed3104 - 'Bombs' would have completed the alliteration ! 👍
It’s not just Amazon doing this.
My sister works at a Sainsbury’s fulfilment centre and they have the same issues.
Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man's made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I like how he thought he could fluff his way out with buzzwords and bullshit.
The execu-speak here is just sickening.
Funny , Amazon are just about to fire 10,000 people
Who would've thought. With 150% turn over rate.
I wish people would wake up and see what these companies are doing , it’ll be their jobs next .Boycott or you deserve what you get
He's paid to lie and spin.
I think he, as a man in a suit, is pretending that he doesn’t see that the power lies in the employer’s hands, and that telling someone they are on strike 2, for being a little slow, is basically just bullying.
He probably changes jobs regularly because his wages are so inflated that it would take years (probably hundreds) for unemployment to threaten his ability to live comfortably.
Lowest paid workers live hand to mouth, by design. They don’t have the luxury of discussions with their employer to change roles etc due to performance targets not being hit. They just get fired, in this case by faceless algorithms.
And what will change? Nothing.
darren jones darren jones - so good that I name him twice.
Gentle, intelligent and persistent. Him getting the Post Office executive to answer the question was another impressive grilling available on UA-cam. It makes me think we might have some chance to have humanity back in the work place if people like him and Mick Lynch are working for us.
Ex Amazon Staff here - I worked at the Amazon Warehouse for 2 years on nightshift. I used to have a partner that had medicinalised marijuanas for chronic shoulder pain. We shared a room and when I went for a drug test and it came up as positive when the results came back but the test was below the screening cut off, after weeks of giving them clear evidence that I don't smoke (Blood tests, copies of partners prescription.) I was still sacked under the pretense that "Canabis was in your system while you were at work despite how much was in your system.)
I fucking worked there for 2 years and worked so damn hard for the company even becoming a Instructor and wanted to work my way up further in the company but they still got rid of me out of complete unfairness.
The fact they don’t have a national union in Amazon tells you what they think of their workers.
We need more of this well done Andy Mac and others
The bloke at the back of the room on the left of the exec looks like he could have a lot to say about the working conditions judging by the looks he was giving the exec.
Could it be the exec wasn't so truthful with his words?
I'm assuming you mean the older guy on Palmers right, not the young wannabee sociopath with the high and tight hair?
Yes, the older guy.
Yup seemed like he had a lot on his mind, maybe an algorithm can tell him when its his turn to speak
Get this : Amazon employees pay more tax in the UK than Amazon.
Subcontract delivery drivers are independent operators and have no rights or obligations that would be implemented by the company they are delivering for. Re: Amazon. To put it another way. They are disposable non-assets. Cannon Fodder. I worked in the industry for decades.
Cattle, make them as productive as possible for as long as possible and then discard and repeat with new stock!
Thanks PoliticsJOE team. More like this please!
Corporate ghoul. The Toffs must love him.
I believe that may be the equivalent of having your pants pulled down in front of the whole class
Amazon Employees Workers Need To Unionize World 🌎 Wide.
I havent worked at Amazon for 7 years and I still get right foot pain after walking for long periods. I had to keep taking days off in the beginning as going from walking a couple miles a day to 15 miles a day first shift completely ruined my feet, they swelled so much that I couldnt get my trainer back on after break...they should start new people off on shorter shifts to build up resistance....i wish I'd been more savvy about my rights back then, I will always have this issue now which pi**es me off greatly!
I've worked in a warehouse and it was absolutely horrable. They told me i weren't good enough every single day. As I have dyslexia i couldn't read the item names as fast as everybody else which would put me behind. Eventually they fired me for it. The company was called Blakemore and sons Ltd. Do yourself a favor and never work for them.
Hope you've found a better employer
If you aren't capable of doing the job to the standard required, get another job. I'm not smart enough to be a rocket scientist so they won't employ me either. Terrible world isn't it.
And the Tory goverment dare to stand up in the house and state that there are plenty of jobs in the UK. Lets get Bojo, Sunak , Truss, Mogg, Raab, Hancock etc,, etc a Job picking at Amazon. I bet they all get fired for Productivity reasons
What a fantastic notion. Brought a warm smile to my world-weary face. That smile will still be there when I retire for the night, basking in the imagery of the entire bunch of cabinet grifters sweating away to meet their individual productivity targets. All I would add; is that they should all wear tazer (HV) wrist or ankel tags, so that when they fall below a certain productivity threshold, they get a jolt of incentive.
Interestingly he chose to wear his funeral suit.
I thought that, dressed for the funeral of all the dead employees took away in an ambulance in November
I hate Amazon because of the way their workers are treated, therefore not 1 cent of my money will ever cross their threshold, never has and never will!
Good man!
"Our people". No mate, they arent "your people" - they work for you, thats all
Wouldn't work for Amazon if it was the last job on Earth..
Heard to many nightmare stories about this company...
Dissembling and downright lies
They are lying I work for a tesco warehouse 10 years ago… they have same system and managers are tweaking it sometimes daily
I have a mate who litre rally just left his job at Amazon. He's one of the most positive hard working dude I know. He said it's the worst job he's ever had in his life. Considering we all used to do greasy agency work when we were younger, that bar is really fkn low.
Drink every time he says: "I'm not an expert in UK employment law"
I’m 54 years old, professionally a Home Automation specialist with my business closed by brexit (my entire client base was in Europe and on super yachts in the med). Until I’m able to establish my business offering in the UK I’m working for algorithmic Gods including Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat. I’d love to take my MP for a ride in my area and show how I have to leverage the wear and tear on my car just to eat today, and how that metric makes the gig businesses viable - that, and the ‘non human boss’ over your head all the time accusing you of cheating, stealing and paying as little as possible for the privilege.
14:20 who is this guy I like him, love when he call the guy out for bullsh*ting
Darren Jones looking at his name tag on the desk
"FULLFILMENT CENTRE!!!"
Its a packing warehouse.
My best mate did 2 days agency work for them and would Never go back.
Slave drivers infringing on the human rights is what they do.
The solution to all of this is not to purchase items from Amazon. I know I dont and my family dont. Amazon have always treated their workers appallingly so why has it taken so long for it to be shown to everyone?? BOYCOTT AMAZON
Nothing more than modern day workhouses.
We will continue to work DIRECTLY with our people. That way we can pick them off one at a time.
Politics JOE just keeps on delivering. Great coverage. Bravo!
Thank you, Darren Jones l, for your clarifications, and clear logic in questioning
Very interesting, could you please upload the rest of the hearing?
PLEASE REWACH IT AND LOOK AT THE BLOKE ON THE LEFT OF SCREEN SAT BACK A ROW, AND THE WOMAN NEXT TO HIM! Obviously senior UK management or legal. his eyes rolling and head shaking every time Palmer was caught lying or giving overtly corporate bollocks. ok in US senate, but not here my son...lol 3 times he had to walk back
One simple solution:
Don't buy from Amazon.
Oh, I get it, Amazon has created algorithms for the sole purpose of tracking worker performance but that's not what the algorithms are used for. Still, you can be fired if the algorithm says you're not measuring up. And if too many people complain, Amazon will move operations to another, more algorithm friendly jurisdiction. Makes PERFECT sense.
Well done. This is why select committees are essential..
You couldn't pay me enough to work for Amazon.
You couldn't pay me enough to buy from Amazon.
Not everyone has the luxury.
@@tilley6351 I'm not sh*tting on those who can't. I utilize my privilege in that to not buy from Amazon.
@@samdegoeij6576 Understood.
And they definitely don't pay enough!