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174 points jbegley | 5 comments | | HN request time: 0.668s | source
1. zamalek ◴[] No.22771415[source]
I strongly sympathize with the Amazon workers. The real problem is that this isn't the first time Amazon has been in the spotlight for worker conditions (there's even a pretty shocking documentary on the subject) and nothing sensible has ever come from it. Amazon continues to exploit humans who have few other choices, and will continue to get away with it.

This whole situation is a really good example of why worker's unions must exist.

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2. slap ◴[] No.22772907[source]
Are you thinking about the documentary Amazon Empire?
3. 0x262d ◴[] No.22773035[source]
I think Amazon is a good indictment of capitalism in general because by capitalism's standards, they're massively successful, wealthy, and huge. But that is a direct result of how much work they've been able to get out of their workers at any externalized cost - to workers' health, to the state in welfare benefits for workers' poverty wages, to endless shipping's environmental costs, to harming the epidemic response by staying open for nonessentials.
4. malandrew ◴[] No.22773435[source]
And here is one reason why they should not exist:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/oregons-coronavirus-education-l...

The Oregon teachers union is blocking student transfers to online charter schools for fear that the students will remain in the charter schools and won't return to public school next year.

It would be much better if we instead broke down the barriers to moving between jobs like portable healthcare benefits so companies have no leverage to keep employees around and employees can easily change employers if the employer doesn't treat employees fairly.

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5. cowpig ◴[] No.22774308[source]
I don't understand this reasoning.

I could point to all kinds of wrongdoing by corporations. Does that means corporations shouldn't exist?