February 6, 2024
Source: Originally published by Z. Feel free to share widely.
Image by Thomas Klikauer, https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/
The exploitation of workers under capitalism is nothing new. In line with that, a sophisticated system of exploitation exists at Amazon. It occurs almost globally even in a so-called high-wage country like Germany.
Yet, workers at the super low wage and high work pressure corporation – Amazon, believe, “we are people, not machines”. Currently, Amazon’s outsourced delivery workers – called subbies – have to distribute around 270 Amazon parcels per day.
These subbies are forced to work for Amazon’s subcontractors who tend to disregard employee rights. In other words, through the subcontracting system, Amazon is (technically) outsourcing Germany’s labor laws.
Yet, these outsourced, indirect, or semi-Amazon workers were told by their Amazon bosses, “if you have problems with the boss, call us!” Bosses can be heard telling the – empty – phrase repeatedly.
And to encourage this, union representative Rudolf Rocker hands out a flyer through the windows of delivery vans that are waiting at the gates of the Amazon distribution center just behind Germany’s capital, Berlin.
Usually, there is no time for more than one short exchange and Rocker must be quick, since Amazon limits the time allowed to be at the company premises called “Verteilzentrum Hoppegarten”.
Rudolf Rocker works at Faire Mobilität. It is a counselling service for workers ran by Germany’s union peak body, the DGB. Since many drivers are migrant workers, Rocker and his colleagues have flyers in ten different languages. Rocker’s Fair Mobility flyer says you want to make your helpline known. We can help Amazon drivers with labor law problems.
Amazon is popularly known for its so-called Black Friday Weekend Sale. This is when Amazon runs a big discount battle at the end of November and when the retail trade’s long advertised pre-Christmas hyped-up sale – mass consumerism is on steroids.
One might expect this Amazon-driven consumer hysteria to only occur in the USA, but it has also reached Germany. In fact, it is around the world – with the possible exception of Cuba and North Korea, perhaps.
Back in Germany, and for the semi-employees of Amazon, the drivers – most of them men, but also some women – this is the most stressful time of the year.
The number of packages that must be carried per shift is soaring while the pressure to deliver parcels on time is getting worse. A young man from Albania who had only been working at Amazon for two months says, work is hard. He often has heavy packages to carry up and down the stairs numerous times and is also forced to hurry a lot.
Like most semi-Amazon workers, he is completely exhausted after his shift. Worse, work rules at Amazon are rather incomprehensible. Once, he told his boss that he was sick, but the boss simply said, “you definitely need to come”. He didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t comply, so he did come in to work despite feeling sick.
Meanwhile, the Albanian worker listens with interest to what Rudolf Rocker tells him about his labor rights. Yet, one can also see the confusion among the Amazon workers. What they learn sounds completely different to what their Amazon and subbie bosses tell them.
Generally, most of the outsourced Amazon drivers do not speak Germany’s native tongue. Others might simply prefer Oscar Wilde’s “life is too short to learn German”.
For many of them, it is their first job and the first time they have entered the German labor market. On that, the trade union’s Fair Mobility offers vital advice on employment law. And it does this in various languages. The project educates employees about their labor rights and helps workers to understand how corporations violate Germany’s labor law.
It assists workers, for example, if overtime is not paid or Germany’s minimum wage is violated. In addition to delivery workers (Amazon, etc.), workers in construction, in the meat industry, seasonal workers in agriculture are also the focus of Fair Mobility.
Back at Amazon’s depot, most drivers like to open the van’s window when they see Rocker and his colleagues in their bright and shiny trade union vests. Yet only some wave Rocker and his people off. They have no time, and they must quickly move on.
On the upswing, there are many vans that have to wait until they are allowed to drive onto the Amazon site to be loaded up. Hence, they have time for a short conversation.
Many take their working conditions with a kind of gallows humor. Rudolf Rocker with his long hair tied back oftentimes jokes with the Amazon drivers in German, English, and Polish. Again and again, you can hear his loud laughter.
The distance from the Amazon depot located at the outskirts of Berlin to the Polish border is almost 100 kilometers. Some of the drivers travel every day from Poland and back after their shifts. When Rocker asks the drivers for which company they work for, he gets a different answer almost every time.
Drivers aren’t directly employed by Amazon. They work for subcontractors. Mostly, these are small logistics companies, often with only a handful of employees. The system of subcontracting gives the legal and visual impression that they do not work for the monopolist Amazon.
Yet, in economic terms, they do. They depend on Amazon. In short, subcontracting is “exploitation by design”, as one German newspaper called it. This is the true raison d’être of the subcontracting system. Worse, the subbies and workers are forced to compete with one another while, at the same time, being dependent on a single monopolist: Amazon.
What further increases work pressure is the fact that many of the vans that are waiting in line in front of Amazon’s entrance, are rental cars. These vans are therefore, without the Amazon logo nor their own (subcontracting) company’s logo. And having to rent these vans to be used for their deliveries adds costs to the subbies’ already dwindling pays.
This deliberately engineered subcontracting system gives Amazon the corporate power to shift nearly all responsibilities away from Amazon. It is the master setup (read: scam) for, not just corporate Uber-exploitation but managerial despotism. Amazon is free to play one subbie against the other. It is sheer heaven for the reactionary-neoliberal rational choice theory.
From conversations with Amazon’s subbie-drivers by the car door, it becomes clear that working conditions differ from subcontractor to subcontractor:there are no uniformed rules on wages and so-called surcharges;
on the recording (read: and the “not” recording) of working hours;
on dealing with sick days, holidays, and annual leave;
on overtime: that is paid sometimes and sometimes not; and,
on how working time is counted, if at all.
Many subcontractors would hold short business meetings with their drivers in the parking lots around the Amazon site at the beginning of the working day. But – “officially” – the actual shift of employees only begins when their cars have been loaded with packages.
If Amazon really wanted to know what the subcontractors were doing, they would only have to contact the drivers. Yet, Amazon does not seem to be interested in contacting Subbies.
Amazon could have all the information they want. But Amazon does not seem to want to change anything. Meanwhile, workers suffer while profits are made. Workers tell the same story repeatedly. If someone fights back or violations are discovered, the subcontracting company is simply closed down and re-appears under a new name, shortly thereafter.
Amazon doesn’t care much about all that. Yet, Amazon’s corporate spokesman notes that its work arrangements place a so-called “high demand” on subcontractors. Amazon also claims that it regularly checks delivery “partners” to make sure they are complying with applicable laws and their policies and that they take action if they are not.
The euphemistically called “partners” are those that are played off against one another in an effort to drive down costs – for Amazon, naturally. At times, competition works beautifully – for the monopolist.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s statement essentially confirms the off-loading of responsibilities onto others. In economic terms, Amazon’s parcel delivery is offloaded onto others. To put simply, these subbies are just an externality to Amazon.
In addition, Amazon tends to keep quiet. It does not reveal how many cases of “work rule” violations there are. The system is set up so that these are the violations of for subcontractors – not Amazon’s violations. Of course, there is a driver “hotline” which Amazon’s subcontracted delivery drivers can contact – anonymously – in case of problems.
Officially, Amazon promised that it will investigate every case and clarify possible problems with the responsible employer. This too, confirms Amazon’s offloading attitude towards its parcel delivery service.
On any given day during December 2023 and a good two weeks after the union’s Fair Mobility campaign had started, the atmosphere at the gates of Amazon’s distribution center got significantly worse.
On one morning during December 2023, there was a heavy snowstorm in the region where Amazon’s warehouse is located. As a consequence, in early morning and evening, the road to Amazon’s warehouse became dangerous for its delivery vans. Those Amazon’s subbie drivers who made it to the warehouse look worried and exhausted.
Yet, workers say that Amazon doesn’t care what kind of weather it is. And that Amazon does not care if workers have an accident. Worse, as delivery vans are overloaded with Amazon parcels on any given day; work drags on well into the evening for these drivers.
As a consequence, these drivers are faced with customers who no longer open the door for drivers once it’s dark. But, according to the Amazon system, the drivers are forced to deliver Amazon’s packages regardless, as nobody is allowed to come back with undelivered packages.
The morning of the snowstorm was just nineteen days away from Christmas – Amazon’s peak season. After Christmas, there is no easing up as the ‘returns’ business starts. During this time, each Amazon-subbie must deliver 270 parcels – daily – during the weeks before Christmas.
The workers who tell those stories wants to remain anonymous for fear of their employers: subbies and Amazon. So much for free speech under capitalism.
Unsurprisingly, workers have never heard of any complaint made to the “hotline” Amazon’s corporate spokesperson has mentioned. Meanwhile, transport vans drive onto Amazon’s company premises in so-called waves. This is done with a time delay because not all of these vans can be loaded at once. Once inside Amazon, drivers have exactly 15 minutes to fill their vans with the pre-sorted packages.
Once out on a delivery, they use two Apps: one that sets the route and one that monitors (read: controls) their driving behavior. A half-hour break is provided for each shift. The route App is not usable during this time. Yet, it is impossible to make all the stops if a driver takes a half-hour break. So, drivers use a trick:
they photograph the view of the route App with their private mobile phone or write down the addresses of the next stops, in order to be able to continue to deliver, even if the App is blocked during the break time.
Many workers say that they often work between eleven to twelve hours at this busy time of the year. Subbies have to work until they have delivered all the packages.
Today, more and more people from Romania and Bulgaria are working in Germany for Amazon. These Romanian and Bulgarian subbies never complain, and according to a German delivery driver, they tend to comply with the demands of their bosses.
Beyond all that, Amazon doesn’t really care what exactly happens to the parcels, whether a driver leaves them in a hallway, or with neighbors, or on a doorstep. The main thing is that the van is empty when a driver gets back. Yet, if one of the packages disappears, the damage will be deducted from the driver’s salary – regardless of whether or not there is any wage left, if at all for the driver. It is pure capitalism.
The people at the union-based Faire Mobilität are familiar with cases of monetary claims by their bosses against individual drivers. Unsurprisingly, Amazon claims that this actually occurs. But it is done so that it does not have negative consequences for the drivers when they return the packages.
The corporate system of subcontracting works for Amazon. However, it does not seem to work for the drivers who actually deliver the parcels.
Amazon claims that packages could be returned to an Amazon delivery center, after which another delivery attempt will be made the next day. In the event of “proven misconduct”, the (what Amazon euphemistically calls) “cooperation” with a subcontractor or a driver will be terminated. The word “cooperation” camouflages the direct dependency of subcontractors on Amazon.
Beyond that, Amazon even believes that all of this is, at is says, in the interest of safety of our customers, and our employees, and even society. This is an outstanding example of corporate public relation, i.e. propaganda.
For many Amazon subbies, their work is their life. It is driving for Amazon, going home, showering, sleeping, repeat – there is nothing else. Another worker says that he didn’t get any wages at all in the previous month. He had an accident because he was so stressed over Amazon’s work pressure. Therefore, he had to pay for the damage. Two weeks earlier, Rudolf Rocker heard a similar story.
The fact that drivers must pay for damages themselves is the rule in many of Amazon’s subcontractors. The same applies to penalties, fines, and tickets if drivers are stopped or caught exceeding the speed limit due to work pressure. Many Amazon subbies are desperate. One driver says,
we are people, not machines.
Workers also say that they want to work, but they cannot work like that, and that they get sick from it. Amazon’s work pressure will kill them. One worker acknowledges that until about three or four years ago, conditions were a little better.
And today, with more and more people from Romania and Bulgaria who are working as subbies for Amazon, the old and proven method of playing one worker against the other is strong.
In fact, Amazon and subcontractors are comparatively attractive employers for people who have previously worked in, for example, Germany’s meat industry. Hourly wages are often slightly higher than the legal minimum wage. Working in the cold stores of the meat industry is physically and mentally more stressful.
If workers can speak some German or English, they apply at the Amazon warehouses, and if they have a driver’s license, they work as a driver for one of Amazon’s subcontractors.
In the end, there are also ways for politicians to help employees in Germany’s low-wage sector from being pitted against each other. One of these options would be a ban on subcontractors – only – in the so-called CEP industry: the courier, express and parcel services.
Germany’s Verdi trade union is calling for such a ban, and the progressive political party – Die Linke – in Germany’s federal parliament – the Bundestag – has tabled a corresponding motion.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.DONATE
Image by Thomas Klikauer, https://www2.lunapic.com/editor/
The exploitation of workers under capitalism is nothing new. In line with that, a sophisticated system of exploitation exists at Amazon. It occurs almost globally even in a so-called high-wage country like Germany.
Yet, workers at the super low wage and high work pressure corporation – Amazon, believe, “we are people, not machines”. Currently, Amazon’s outsourced delivery workers – called subbies – have to distribute around 270 Amazon parcels per day.
These subbies are forced to work for Amazon’s subcontractors who tend to disregard employee rights. In other words, through the subcontracting system, Amazon is (technically) outsourcing Germany’s labor laws.
Yet, these outsourced, indirect, or semi-Amazon workers were told by their Amazon bosses, “if you have problems with the boss, call us!” Bosses can be heard telling the – empty – phrase repeatedly.
And to encourage this, union representative Rudolf Rocker hands out a flyer through the windows of delivery vans that are waiting at the gates of the Amazon distribution center just behind Germany’s capital, Berlin.
Usually, there is no time for more than one short exchange and Rocker must be quick, since Amazon limits the time allowed to be at the company premises called “Verteilzentrum Hoppegarten”.
Rudolf Rocker works at Faire Mobilität. It is a counselling service for workers ran by Germany’s union peak body, the DGB. Since many drivers are migrant workers, Rocker and his colleagues have flyers in ten different languages. Rocker’s Fair Mobility flyer says you want to make your helpline known. We can help Amazon drivers with labor law problems.
Amazon is popularly known for its so-called Black Friday Weekend Sale. This is when Amazon runs a big discount battle at the end of November and when the retail trade’s long advertised pre-Christmas hyped-up sale – mass consumerism is on steroids.
One might expect this Amazon-driven consumer hysteria to only occur in the USA, but it has also reached Germany. In fact, it is around the world – with the possible exception of Cuba and North Korea, perhaps.
Back in Germany, and for the semi-employees of Amazon, the drivers – most of them men, but also some women – this is the most stressful time of the year.
The number of packages that must be carried per shift is soaring while the pressure to deliver parcels on time is getting worse. A young man from Albania who had only been working at Amazon for two months says, work is hard. He often has heavy packages to carry up and down the stairs numerous times and is also forced to hurry a lot.
Like most semi-Amazon workers, he is completely exhausted after his shift. Worse, work rules at Amazon are rather incomprehensible. Once, he told his boss that he was sick, but the boss simply said, “you definitely need to come”. He didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t comply, so he did come in to work despite feeling sick.
Meanwhile, the Albanian worker listens with interest to what Rudolf Rocker tells him about his labor rights. Yet, one can also see the confusion among the Amazon workers. What they learn sounds completely different to what their Amazon and subbie bosses tell them.
Generally, most of the outsourced Amazon drivers do not speak Germany’s native tongue. Others might simply prefer Oscar Wilde’s “life is too short to learn German”.
For many of them, it is their first job and the first time they have entered the German labor market. On that, the trade union’s Fair Mobility offers vital advice on employment law. And it does this in various languages. The project educates employees about their labor rights and helps workers to understand how corporations violate Germany’s labor law.
It assists workers, for example, if overtime is not paid or Germany’s minimum wage is violated. In addition to delivery workers (Amazon, etc.), workers in construction, in the meat industry, seasonal workers in agriculture are also the focus of Fair Mobility.
Back at Amazon’s depot, most drivers like to open the van’s window when they see Rocker and his colleagues in their bright and shiny trade union vests. Yet only some wave Rocker and his people off. They have no time, and they must quickly move on.
On the upswing, there are many vans that have to wait until they are allowed to drive onto the Amazon site to be loaded up. Hence, they have time for a short conversation.
Many take their working conditions with a kind of gallows humor. Rudolf Rocker with his long hair tied back oftentimes jokes with the Amazon drivers in German, English, and Polish. Again and again, you can hear his loud laughter.
The distance from the Amazon depot located at the outskirts of Berlin to the Polish border is almost 100 kilometers. Some of the drivers travel every day from Poland and back after their shifts. When Rocker asks the drivers for which company they work for, he gets a different answer almost every time.
Drivers aren’t directly employed by Amazon. They work for subcontractors. Mostly, these are small logistics companies, often with only a handful of employees. The system of subcontracting gives the legal and visual impression that they do not work for the monopolist Amazon.
Yet, in economic terms, they do. They depend on Amazon. In short, subcontracting is “exploitation by design”, as one German newspaper called it. This is the true raison d’être of the subcontracting system. Worse, the subbies and workers are forced to compete with one another while, at the same time, being dependent on a single monopolist: Amazon.
What further increases work pressure is the fact that many of the vans that are waiting in line in front of Amazon’s entrance, are rental cars. These vans are therefore, without the Amazon logo nor their own (subcontracting) company’s logo. And having to rent these vans to be used for their deliveries adds costs to the subbies’ already dwindling pays.
This deliberately engineered subcontracting system gives Amazon the corporate power to shift nearly all responsibilities away from Amazon. It is the master setup (read: scam) for, not just corporate Uber-exploitation but managerial despotism. Amazon is free to play one subbie against the other. It is sheer heaven for the reactionary-neoliberal rational choice theory.
From conversations with Amazon’s subbie-drivers by the car door, it becomes clear that working conditions differ from subcontractor to subcontractor:there are no uniformed rules on wages and so-called surcharges;
on the recording (read: and the “not” recording) of working hours;
on dealing with sick days, holidays, and annual leave;
on overtime: that is paid sometimes and sometimes not; and,
on how working time is counted, if at all.
Many subcontractors would hold short business meetings with their drivers in the parking lots around the Amazon site at the beginning of the working day. But – “officially” – the actual shift of employees only begins when their cars have been loaded with packages.
If Amazon really wanted to know what the subcontractors were doing, they would only have to contact the drivers. Yet, Amazon does not seem to be interested in contacting Subbies.
Amazon could have all the information they want. But Amazon does not seem to want to change anything. Meanwhile, workers suffer while profits are made. Workers tell the same story repeatedly. If someone fights back or violations are discovered, the subcontracting company is simply closed down and re-appears under a new name, shortly thereafter.
Amazon doesn’t care much about all that. Yet, Amazon’s corporate spokesman notes that its work arrangements place a so-called “high demand” on subcontractors. Amazon also claims that it regularly checks delivery “partners” to make sure they are complying with applicable laws and their policies and that they take action if they are not.
The euphemistically called “partners” are those that are played off against one another in an effort to drive down costs – for Amazon, naturally. At times, competition works beautifully – for the monopolist.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s statement essentially confirms the off-loading of responsibilities onto others. In economic terms, Amazon’s parcel delivery is offloaded onto others. To put simply, these subbies are just an externality to Amazon.
In addition, Amazon tends to keep quiet. It does not reveal how many cases of “work rule” violations there are. The system is set up so that these are the violations of for subcontractors – not Amazon’s violations. Of course, there is a driver “hotline” which Amazon’s subcontracted delivery drivers can contact – anonymously – in case of problems.
Officially, Amazon promised that it will investigate every case and clarify possible problems with the responsible employer. This too, confirms Amazon’s offloading attitude towards its parcel delivery service.
On any given day during December 2023 and a good two weeks after the union’s Fair Mobility campaign had started, the atmosphere at the gates of Amazon’s distribution center got significantly worse.
On one morning during December 2023, there was a heavy snowstorm in the region where Amazon’s warehouse is located. As a consequence, in early morning and evening, the road to Amazon’s warehouse became dangerous for its delivery vans. Those Amazon’s subbie drivers who made it to the warehouse look worried and exhausted.
Yet, workers say that Amazon doesn’t care what kind of weather it is. And that Amazon does not care if workers have an accident. Worse, as delivery vans are overloaded with Amazon parcels on any given day; work drags on well into the evening for these drivers.
As a consequence, these drivers are faced with customers who no longer open the door for drivers once it’s dark. But, according to the Amazon system, the drivers are forced to deliver Amazon’s packages regardless, as nobody is allowed to come back with undelivered packages.
The morning of the snowstorm was just nineteen days away from Christmas – Amazon’s peak season. After Christmas, there is no easing up as the ‘returns’ business starts. During this time, each Amazon-subbie must deliver 270 parcels – daily – during the weeks before Christmas.
The workers who tell those stories wants to remain anonymous for fear of their employers: subbies and Amazon. So much for free speech under capitalism.
Unsurprisingly, workers have never heard of any complaint made to the “hotline” Amazon’s corporate spokesperson has mentioned. Meanwhile, transport vans drive onto Amazon’s company premises in so-called waves. This is done with a time delay because not all of these vans can be loaded at once. Once inside Amazon, drivers have exactly 15 minutes to fill their vans with the pre-sorted packages.
Once out on a delivery, they use two Apps: one that sets the route and one that monitors (read: controls) their driving behavior. A half-hour break is provided for each shift. The route App is not usable during this time. Yet, it is impossible to make all the stops if a driver takes a half-hour break. So, drivers use a trick:
they photograph the view of the route App with their private mobile phone or write down the addresses of the next stops, in order to be able to continue to deliver, even if the App is blocked during the break time.
Many workers say that they often work between eleven to twelve hours at this busy time of the year. Subbies have to work until they have delivered all the packages.
Today, more and more people from Romania and Bulgaria are working in Germany for Amazon. These Romanian and Bulgarian subbies never complain, and according to a German delivery driver, they tend to comply with the demands of their bosses.
Beyond all that, Amazon doesn’t really care what exactly happens to the parcels, whether a driver leaves them in a hallway, or with neighbors, or on a doorstep. The main thing is that the van is empty when a driver gets back. Yet, if one of the packages disappears, the damage will be deducted from the driver’s salary – regardless of whether or not there is any wage left, if at all for the driver. It is pure capitalism.
The people at the union-based Faire Mobilität are familiar with cases of monetary claims by their bosses against individual drivers. Unsurprisingly, Amazon claims that this actually occurs. But it is done so that it does not have negative consequences for the drivers when they return the packages.
The corporate system of subcontracting works for Amazon. However, it does not seem to work for the drivers who actually deliver the parcels.
Amazon claims that packages could be returned to an Amazon delivery center, after which another delivery attempt will be made the next day. In the event of “proven misconduct”, the (what Amazon euphemistically calls) “cooperation” with a subcontractor or a driver will be terminated. The word “cooperation” camouflages the direct dependency of subcontractors on Amazon.
Beyond that, Amazon even believes that all of this is, at is says, in the interest of safety of our customers, and our employees, and even society. This is an outstanding example of corporate public relation, i.e. propaganda.
For many Amazon subbies, their work is their life. It is driving for Amazon, going home, showering, sleeping, repeat – there is nothing else. Another worker says that he didn’t get any wages at all in the previous month. He had an accident because he was so stressed over Amazon’s work pressure. Therefore, he had to pay for the damage. Two weeks earlier, Rudolf Rocker heard a similar story.
The fact that drivers must pay for damages themselves is the rule in many of Amazon’s subcontractors. The same applies to penalties, fines, and tickets if drivers are stopped or caught exceeding the speed limit due to work pressure. Many Amazon subbies are desperate. One driver says,
we are people, not machines.
Workers also say that they want to work, but they cannot work like that, and that they get sick from it. Amazon’s work pressure will kill them. One worker acknowledges that until about three or four years ago, conditions were a little better.
And today, with more and more people from Romania and Bulgaria who are working as subbies for Amazon, the old and proven method of playing one worker against the other is strong.
In fact, Amazon and subcontractors are comparatively attractive employers for people who have previously worked in, for example, Germany’s meat industry. Hourly wages are often slightly higher than the legal minimum wage. Working in the cold stores of the meat industry is physically and mentally more stressful.
If workers can speak some German or English, they apply at the Amazon warehouses, and if they have a driver’s license, they work as a driver for one of Amazon’s subcontractors.
In the end, there are also ways for politicians to help employees in Germany’s low-wage sector from being pitted against each other. One of these options would be a ban on subcontractors – only – in the so-called CEP industry: the courier, express and parcel services.
Germany’s Verdi trade union is calling for such a ban, and the progressive political party – Die Linke – in Germany’s federal parliament – the Bundestag – has tabled a corresponding motion.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.DONATE
Thomas Klikauer has over 800 publications (including 12 books) and writes regularly for BraveNewEurope (Western Europe), the Barricades (Eastern Europe), Buzzflash (USA), Counterpunch (USA), Countercurrents (India), Tikkun (USA), and ZNet (USA). One of his books is on Managerialism (2013).
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