Posted on 12/20/2020 2:13:34 AM PST by Libloather
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday said Amazon's jobs are a "scam" because they're not creating financial security for workers.
"A 'job' that leaves you homeless & on food stamps isn't a job. It's a scam," she said on Twitter.
Ocasio-Cortez referenced a Bloomberg News report detailing how many Amazon warehouse workers struggle to pay bills, with as many as 4,000 on food stamps.
The report said Amazon has turned logistics work from a professional career option to "entry-level" work for many. As Amazon's workforce has soared during the pandemic, safety conditions in its warehouses have failed to keep pace, according to the report.
"This is why 'Amazon jobs' aren't it & we should instead focus our public investments + incentives on small businesses, public infrastructure, & worker cooperatives that actually support dignified life," said Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.
"Bloomberg's conclusion is false - it violates over 50 years of economic thought, and suspends the law of supply and demand," an Amazon representative told Bloomberg.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
There are some remedies, which won’t happen, to fix some economic issues.
1. End lockdowns
2. Send all Indians and Chinamen back home.
3. Kick out illegals
As for automation removing jobs, I’m not sure what the fix is.
No middle class or a path for people to better their lives will lead to serious societal issues. (As if we don’t already have them)
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1. Not going to happen with either party (except maybe in South Dakota, Texas or a few other places. A little taste of power under the guise of a health emergency, er plandemic, was a dangerous thing.
2. Never going to happen. Other than Trump, seems all Republicans (and Democrats) are for the Cheap Indian Labor Express for most white-collar jobs, and the Cheap Labor Mexican Express for most blue-collar jobs.
3. See #2
What she misses is that the Bezos story is a perfect fore-runner of what life is like when the government is the only employer. The competition is dead, and those at the top are now in the position to do exactly as they see fit.
It seems people have forgotten that the free market is a flawed and awful system. But it’s better than any other one in the world
Bartending isn’t a job if you have to steal other people’s tips to survive.
btw--there have been plenty of job opportunities this year for grocery and restaurant delivery services. These jobs have been a lifesaver for motivated individuals. Quite a few industrious couples have teamed up to make the shopping/delivery service remarkably efficient and lucrative.
Couldn’t be your new yawk gov and mayor’s socialist policies, could it ?
Commie Byotch Face.
I'm waiting for a package that was assigned a USPS tracking number on 12/14 and there still is no indication that it has left that terminal......
Shopping malls replaced the brick and mortar businesses and now the internet is replacing the malls........
It seems people have forgotten that the free market is a flawed and awful system. But it’s better than any other one in the world
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No longer a free-market when government-mandated shutdowns eliminate most of the competition and choice, leaving only government-approved and sanctioned absolute monopolies (triopoly) in its wake. You can go to any store, as long as it’s Gum Department Store, er Amazon, Walmart or Target.,
Not for much longer. 4,000 Amazon employees will be cursing her name next month as they had hoped to fly under the radar.
I agree with all you say and the answer is to pass laws consistent with our belief in the free enterprise system.
In the case of Amazon, complaints directed toward it should be directed to the power mad shi*heads who keep closing down their States using a bs excuse it is to control a bogus scamdemic when its true intention is to destroy the economy along with a man they hate so much they will allow any amount of misery to befall the population in their effort to harm him.
Amazon employs over a million people; about 500K are US Employees who make a minimum of $15/hr starting wage (that’s just shy of $30K/yr). If there are only have 4K on foodstamps, AOC is fishing in the wrong pond
A blue collar worker without physics education/experience would not apply for a job in physics.
btw—there have been plenty of job opportunities this year for grocery and restaurant delivery services. These jobs have been a lifesaver for motivated individuals. Quite a few industrious couples have teamed up to make the shopping/delivery service remarkably efficient and lucrative.
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Lucrative only for DoorDash, GrubHub, UberEats and InstaCart management.
The delivery drivers absolutely got screwed. Early 2019, all the services advertised $1000 to $1500 a week was possible. And it was, for the most part.
With mass layoffs, everyone and their mother turned to delivery services for income, causing an extreme over saturation of drivers in most markets.
The delivery services now advertise “earn up to $400 a week”. DoorDash, for one, cut its base pay to only $3 a delivery in most places. With a typical delivery taking 30 minutes, that’s a whole $6 a hour (before fuel, proper commercial drivers insurance and car maintenance).
You should read some of the driver forums and subreddits. As a former Dasher during the good times, I still do.
A blue collar worker without physics education/experience would not apply for a job in physics.
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Exactly, yet the common thread is that someone with that very degree and experience can easily slot into a brutal manual labor no-skills job that just takes elbow grease.
Another Freeper up thread mentioned that most people who do this type of manual labor (for a whole $15/hr) look a lot like linebackers.
We could do a couple of things, I would take a hard look at companies like Amazon and Walmart specifically besides the positive change they have created in the economy they have also devastated other areas....crushing the small competitor and paying substandard wages.....
I would rather see them forced to pay better wages or contribute to some type of healthcare benefit for their employees than over tax them.....
I would also like to see Amazon pay sales taxes in every state they ship to which is all 50, it’s somewhat unfair to force brick and mortar local businesses to pay sales taxes but Amazon gets a free ride....
True, but we are not even close to free market.
You already knew that.
I've seen the same with UPS and FedEx. However, it is not necessarily the shipping company's ineptitude. Rather, the seller may be using sleight-of-hand for shipping. Some merchants will print up a shipping label immediately upon payment for the merchandise, whether they have inventory for the product or not. A quick glance at the shipping progress looks like things are on their way--but your purchase has not left the seller's warehouse because they don't have the product.
The worst sellers will buy time by telling you to contact the shipping company. Next, they say they will contact the shipping company, and they will re-ship in xx days when they get more inventory, which they never had in the first place.
Caveat emptor.
Antitrust used to be an important concept in this country.
Now, it doesn’t get talked about. Perhaps because 95% of the media is owned by 6 corporations?
Little difference as far as WM is concerned between your suggestions.
"I would also like to see Amazon pay sales taxes in every state they ship to which is all 50, it’s somewhat unfair to force brick and mortar local businesses to pay sales taxes but Amazon gets a free ride...."
That would be up to the individual States to pass legislation to accomplish that. Many have already done so but to be clear Amazon does not pay the sales tax, the consumer does.
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