Have you ever wondered how the stuff you and I buy online arrives so incredibly fast?
Here’s the real deal on online shipping – the whole system is built on unsafe, low-paying, temporary jobs. Workers in the U.S. shipping centers and warehouses that fulfill online orders for major retailers like Amazon and Walmart are subject to dangerous conditions and shamefully low wages. Temperatures in warehouses can soar up to 120 degrees, making them literal sweatshops. These workers are consistently asked to work at unreasonable and backbreaking speeds, and they endure the pain because they’re afraid of losing their jobs.
Explains former Walmart warehouse worker Uylonda Dickerson: “By the end of the day, your body hurts so bad. “You tell them you can’t do it the next day… they’ll tell you, ‘We’ve got four more people waiting for your job.’”
That’s why this Cyber Monday – Nov. 26 – the biggest online shopping day of the year, Jobs with Justice and American Rights at Work are launching a major campaign in protest. Join us by standing up for safe, sustainable jobs and pledge not to buy anything online from major retailers that day.
You can learn more about the serious labor problems in online shipping here. The more of us that take a stand with our pocketbooks by protesting Cyber Monday, the greater our impact in waking up the media, our friends, and big retailers that brutal warehouse jobs are unacceptable to American consumers.
When unions stop protecting lazy no good workers, then I will be sympathetic to unions!!!!!!!!!!
I have never liked Christie, though I support most of his reforms. However, to think he set out to undermine Romney is preposterous. Just think of the challenge the guy had: nearly the entire coastline of his state devastated. What would you folks have done? Of course you would look for the president to cut through red tape. Of course relying upon the federal government to cut through red tape is like relying upon the media to get out the story on Libya. But that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t try. He never had a chance to go national. He’s just too “hot” of a personality. Now, because of the unfair conservative animus, his chances are below zero.
Boo-Hoo. If they don’t like the job they can quit. Otherwise shut up and get back to work! HELLO It’s a WAREHOUSE! not a cushy office job! Unions have destroyed more companies than they’ve helped. Before OSHA and labor standards existed there was a place for unions. Now they’re nothing more than greedy dinosaurs out to suck as much benefit and money from everyone they can. They don’t help anyone.
My friends father was retired Oldsmobile and their union newsletter had an announcement that union employees got 45 mins per day PAID TIME to go the the freaking bathroom! A normal person just goes when necessary but a union guy has to take 45 mins a day needed or not. How the @#$% is that helping the employer and how is it really helping the employee be anything other than a slacker for 45 mins a day while the employer pays for it. Oh that’s right it doesn’t – Oldsmobile no longer exists! Partly due to union BS like this.
Boycott cyber Monday? Really, that’s going to work how? These non profit groups crack me up. Pull your head out of your rears and do something that would actually make sense. Build your own damn warehouse and run it the way you want to. Pay a higher wage, cutback on the productivity and climate control the whole thing, put in big screen TV with cable so they can be entertained while they work and hire all those crybaby workers. Otherwise stay the hell out of other peoples business.
You should be happy someone other than the government is spending money so you can have a job.
I am quite sympathetic to those workers but boycotting all online businesses on Cyber Monday is a shotgun approach to the problem.
Do you realize that there are a lot of small businesses that have online presences and intend to participate in Cyber Monday by giving their customers free shipping and sale prices? A broad boycott hurts those businesses that are often one or two person operations and have NO warehouses or employees.
Please promote this as a boycott of certain types of businesses on Cyber Monday.
Liz you are a joke and need to get all your facts straight before starting a smear campaign against amazon. I work at one that is in Phoenix AZ. We have 227 ac units that keep the facility at 85 degrees during the summer time and when that heat wave hit the north east and mid west facilities last year during summer they shut those ones that did not have ac units down. They provide us with excellent benefits and because we have such loyal and awesome customers I can afford to buy a house this year. The rates that keep us at is an average of all the employees of that department and if we did not have them nothing would get done. Do I get tired at the end of day because I work hard the answer is yes. But I feel good knowing that I put in good day of work. So please write a little more responsibly in the future.
My like-mined pro-workers friends & I would like to help with the online fulfillment problems noted as “shameful exploitation, dangerous sweatshop conditions for warehouse workers”, soaring high temperatures in warehouses, etc. As we don’t undertand exactly what or who we’re opposing, can AR@W provide some specifics?
What is the end solution to the problem? Unless we understand specifics, we’re unable to assist. Help us, help you, by stating the DESIRED OUTCOME of our joint efforts.