By Doug Nesbitt “We have to be fast like a robot. So we say we’re not robots,” says a former Amazon worker, Ibrahim Al Sahary, ahead of Amazon’s big discount “Prime Day” scheduled July 16 and 17. Amazon Prime Day and other Amazon sale periods are notorious among Amazon warehouse workers for speed-ups, cancelled breaks, Continue readingBeyond the Beachhead: Unionizing Amazon in Canada
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By Anna Luxemburg Seasonal, part-time, full-time – titles that seemingly distinguish different categories of workers in Amazon’s warehouses in Montreal. However, delve deeper and you’ll find that these labels, particularly the ‘seasonal’ one, often serve as a smokescreen to mask an exploitative labour system. As a ‘white badge’ or seasonal worker at Amazon, I’ve witnessed Continue readingInside Amazon’s two-tier system at a Montreal warehouse
By Jeremy Appel Workers at numerous Amazon warehouses in Canada are aiming to build on the momentum of the first successful Amazon union drive in Staten Island. On Staten Island, the independent Amazon Labour Union (ALU) successfully built a grassroots organization at the JFK8 “fulfillment centre” culminating in a 10-percentage point victory over the anti-union Continue readingAmazon targeted by Teamsters Canada & CSN
Editor’s note: The following is a statement from the Amazon Workers Collective. Rankandfile.ca is sharing this call-out in the interest of advancing the cause of mutual protection in the workplace, unionizing Amazon, and taking on Jeff Bezos and his corporate empire. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the rotten core of our economic system. Wall Street Continue readingAmazon workers in Canada call for workplace organization and power
Alberta’s first Amazon fulfillment centre has only been open a few months, but is already planning to open a second one in 2020. Here to provide a bit of insight into the working conditions at the fulfillment center in Alberta is a worker I’ll refer to as “M” to protect their identity. M was a Continue readingInside Alberta’s Amazon Fulfillment Centre
By Richard Salame The latest scandal to emerge from Amazon’s warehouses centers on the company’s newly patented wristband, which gives it the ability to track and record employees’ hands in real time. Some have described the technology as a “dystopian” form of surveillance. Amazon has countered that journalists are engaging in “misguided” speculation. To hear the Continue readingAmazon and the new Taylorism