<story><title>Amazon Keeps Getting Sued for Paying Drivers Less Than Minimum Wage</title><url>https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjpyqm/amazon-keeps-getting-sued-for-paying-drivers-less-than-minimum-wage</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>SpicyLemonZest</author><text>But on the Amazon side of the fence, they &lt;i&gt;are&lt;/i&gt; using their power to change that; they pay all employees at least $15, and are lobbying to get the federal minimum wage raised to that level from $7.25. So this can&amp;#x27;t just be a simple story of a company paying as little as they can get away with. Something&amp;#x27;s gone wrong to make them not care about (or not think they&amp;#x27;re responsible for) these delivery drivers.</text></item><item><author>ModernMech</author><text>At some point we have to admit that the richest corporations and people in the world, with the most power to change the system, are not just playing in the system but are a part of what makes it broken. From their perspective the system is not broken at all — it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do, which is to make shareholders (themselves) fabulously rich at the expense of laborers.&lt;p&gt;On one side of the equation we have people being paid poverty wages, on the other side we have the richest man in the world with the power to change that. This isn’t a coincidence or just a strange, second-order, unintended byproduct of the system. It’s cause and effect.  It’s what the system was designed explicitly to do. The system is in fact working to spec.</text></item><item><author>adamcstephens</author><text>The latter, and this is the accepted practice in modern corporations. How many times have the Gap or Apple been caught using child labor, only to terminate the contract and move on? If they don’t push these boundaries they’re considered irresponsible fiduciaries and may be replaced.&lt;p&gt;Amazon is just playing in the same broken system.</text></item><item><author>Frost1x</author><text>&amp;gt;“Amazon does not tolerate violations of labor laws,&amp;quot; Leah Seay, an Amazon spokesperson told Motherboard. &amp;quot;Where we find repeated violations, or an inability to correct labor violations, we terminate contracts with DSP program participants.”&lt;p&gt;At some point you can&amp;#x27;t pass blame for repeated violations through contract vehicles. The general population are becoming aware of these practices. Amazon may not have directly committed the violation but they&amp;#x27;ve created and shaped an environment ripe for rampantly abusive labor practices.&lt;p&gt;If Amazon is serious about fixing the problem and committed to good labor practices, stop contracting out services and take control of the issue. Set policies in place with teeth that remove managers and middle managers caught pushing such  work conditions. Don&amp;#x27;t just leverage cheaper labor from labor abuse until it gets public attention and then terminate a contract set in place to pass blame and responsibility.&lt;p&gt;Are you really outsourcing labor or are you outsourcing the risks associated with abuses of labor needed to meet your demands?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>aboringusername</author><text>They don&amp;#x27;t care. The only reason they have an interest&amp;#x2F;stake at $15 min wage is so they can crush anyone who might challenge them. Essentially solidify their position.&lt;p&gt;A rival might not be able to afford that so they let everyone go, or Amazon gobbles them up for dinner.&lt;p&gt;There&amp;#x27;s &lt;i&gt;always&lt;/i&gt; an ulterior motive when lobbying is involved.</text></comment>
<story><title>Amazon Keeps Getting Sued for Paying Drivers Less Than Minimum Wage</title><url>https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjpyqm/amazon-keeps-getting-sued-for-paying-drivers-less-than-minimum-wage</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>SpicyLemonZest</author><text>But on the Amazon side of the fence, they &lt;i&gt;are&lt;/i&gt; using their power to change that; they pay all employees at least $15, and are lobbying to get the federal minimum wage raised to that level from $7.25. So this can&amp;#x27;t just be a simple story of a company paying as little as they can get away with. Something&amp;#x27;s gone wrong to make them not care about (or not think they&amp;#x27;re responsible for) these delivery drivers.</text></item><item><author>ModernMech</author><text>At some point we have to admit that the richest corporations and people in the world, with the most power to change the system, are not just playing in the system but are a part of what makes it broken. From their perspective the system is not broken at all — it’s doing exactly what it was designed to do, which is to make shareholders (themselves) fabulously rich at the expense of laborers.&lt;p&gt;On one side of the equation we have people being paid poverty wages, on the other side we have the richest man in the world with the power to change that. This isn’t a coincidence or just a strange, second-order, unintended byproduct of the system. It’s cause and effect.  It’s what the system was designed explicitly to do. The system is in fact working to spec.</text></item><item><author>adamcstephens</author><text>The latter, and this is the accepted practice in modern corporations. How many times have the Gap or Apple been caught using child labor, only to terminate the contract and move on? If they don’t push these boundaries they’re considered irresponsible fiduciaries and may be replaced.&lt;p&gt;Amazon is just playing in the same broken system.</text></item><item><author>Frost1x</author><text>&amp;gt;“Amazon does not tolerate violations of labor laws,&amp;quot; Leah Seay, an Amazon spokesperson told Motherboard. &amp;quot;Where we find repeated violations, or an inability to correct labor violations, we terminate contracts with DSP program participants.”&lt;p&gt;At some point you can&amp;#x27;t pass blame for repeated violations through contract vehicles. The general population are becoming aware of these practices. Amazon may not have directly committed the violation but they&amp;#x27;ve created and shaped an environment ripe for rampantly abusive labor practices.&lt;p&gt;If Amazon is serious about fixing the problem and committed to good labor practices, stop contracting out services and take control of the issue. Set policies in place with teeth that remove managers and middle managers caught pushing such  work conditions. Don&amp;#x27;t just leverage cheaper labor from labor abuse until it gets public attention and then terminate a contract set in place to pass blame and responsibility.&lt;p&gt;Are you really outsourcing labor or are you outsourcing the risks associated with abuses of labor needed to meet your demands?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>DangitBobby</author><text>My guess is that most of the labor cost is due to delivery and not the warehouse. If they advocate for higher wages in the warehouse, regulators and the general public will be less suspicious of the policies that drive the lion&amp;#x27;s share of their labor costs.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m sure if they thought they could get away with &amp;quot;subcontracting (wink wink)&amp;quot; all of their labor positions so that they are not liable for the wage theft that must occur to meet the contracts, they would do so.</text></comment>