The age of Amazon convenience comes at a cost and it’s time to walk away
Growing up in a rural community, I knew to take nothing for granted. Getting to a shop before I could drive required a bus, getting a bus required there to be one, there being a bus required me to live, frankly, somewhere else. A takeaway was collection only, going for dinner was the one of two pubs, unless one was going through it’s oh so frequent changes in ownership, and therefore closed.
Now living in a city, these inconveniences are gone, and with them any sense of wait for almost anything I could possibly want, money and a trophy for Tottenham Hotspur aside. If I want food, it can be delivered within minutes, if I need groceries it is the same. For shopping there are numerous high streets, though of course, I generally just order online. And why wouldn’t I? Amazon Prime means I can get basically everything that’s ever been invented either on the day I order it, or the day after. It’s quick, it’s easy, and fantastic service. And for the longest time, I’ve been able to not think about it, or at least ignore my thoughts about it.
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Hide AdBut I shouldn’t. The idea that I can order literally anything and it can arrive the next day is not normal. That is not just the seamless service of a happy workforce, desperate to keep me happy.
We all know this. Read the news, engage in a simple Google, and the cost of that turnaround is clear. Black Friday saw Amazon workers in more than 30 countries, including the US and UK, strike across Black Friday in protest against labour practices. This was not an outlier, but the fourth consecutive year this has happened. According to the UNI Global Union, which represents 20 million workers in 150 countries, this comes with demands for “fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect on the job”, accusing Amazon of ignoring its workers. If the strike last month didn’t make its voice heard, another is taking place right now in the US and Germany.
This is, I think can say as a fair opinion, looks quite bad. Maybe this is just one side, I hear you ask, and actually the staff are treated brilliantly, we should hear from Amazon on the issue. Well, I agree, but the tech giant has declined so many times to appear before an EU public hearing that Brussels has actually banned Amazon lobbyists. You don’t have to explain if you don’t show up.
Then there is what we know about working for them. Ambulances have been called out to Amazon warehouses more than 1,400 times in the past five years. An International Trade Union Confederation says they are one of many companies undermining democracy, becoming notorious, according to the report, for "union busting, low wages, egregious carbon emissions and corporate tax evasion". Amazon will of course dispute the allegations.
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Hide AdIt’s easy to compartmentalise this. You live in a society, what am I supposed to do? But we have a choice. Waiting a few days for something isn’t too bad. Going to a shop is even better. I might need a bus to get there, but at least I won’t have to wonder how it got to me.
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