The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #153134   Message #3584725
Posted By: YorkshireYankee
16-Dec-13 - 05:29 PM
Thread Name: UK Petition: Amazon mistreats workers!
Subject: RE: UK Petition: Amazon mistreats workers!
Q wrote: "Wages paid to Amazon workers in the U. S. and Canada are well above minimum wage"

From (again) the article I originally linked to:
"...when I was hired I signed off on something acknowledging that anyone who leaves without at least a week's notice—whether because they're a journalist who will just walk off or because they miss a day for having a baby and are terminated—has their hours paid out not at their hired rate but at the legal minimum. Which in this state, like in lots of states, is about $7 an hour. Thank God that I... didn't need to pay for opting into Amalgamated's "limited" health insurance program. Because in my 10.5-hour day I'll make about $60 after taxes.

"[A guy] ...told me, as we were hustling to our stations, that this is actually the second time he's worked here: A few weeks back he missed some time for doctors' appointments when his arthritis flared up, and though he had notes for the absences, he was fired; he had to start the application process over again, which cost him an extra week and a half of work.

"There's no time off on Election Day. "What if I want to vote?" I ask a supervisor. "I think you should!" he says. "But if I leave I'll get fired," I say. To which he makes a sad face before saying, "Yeah." "

But I guess you're right Q. As long as they are paid "well above minimum wage", what on earth do they have to complain about?

And by the way, as I said previously (on 16 Dec 13 - 12:15 AM):
"I'm not talking about what they pay them. I'm talking about their working conditions." Likewise the petition I thought I'd publicise in this thread. Minimum wage is not the issue here.