Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A cheap way to air condition a warehouse is Evaporative Cooling. Like these: [URL="http://www.globalindustrial.com/c/hvac/cooling?infoParam.campaignId=T9A&gclid=CPbj2dDVrqs CFaUCQAod7WYYJQ"]Evaporative Coolers, Swamp Coolers, Evaporative Cooler, Misting Fans[/URL]
I truly believe Amazon is an abusive workplace environment and a greedy corporation.
And I agree with you, which is why I cancelled my membership there.
Many years ago, in the mid-80s, I worked in a factory for a cosmetics company. Their warehouses had to be air-conditioned because lipstick and other cosmetics melt and turn rancid in high temperatures. This was a summer job and we were making gift sets and promotional sets for the Christmas holidays.
In the mid-90s, when I was a tech writer at the USPS, I went to warehouses on inspection runs. Again, the warehouses had to be climate-controlled, as stamps will curl in high humidity and glue turns rancid in high heat. Also, heat can ruin ink.
So, if Amazon is not cooling its warehouses, Amazon is just being cheap.
You cannot cool a 40,000 square foot warehouse. Post a link to an air conditioned warehouse and I will retract this statement.
Here in Springfield, MO, O'Reilly's Automotive has a huge warehouse. No air conditioning.
20yrsinBranson
I work for a company in Austin that has a 117,000 sq ft warehouse that is heated and cooled. I have worked in that warehouse and it's not perfect, but it's quite comfortable even in the brutal heat of the Texas summers. We just opened another warehouse with 128K sq ft and it too is temp controlled. Our customers require temperature and humidity controls for their products, so it is indeed possible. Howver, many of the warehouses are constructed without heat and air, it's up to the occupants to decide whether or not to install their own.
I wonder if there any relationship between people's "outrage" over the treatment of low skill workers and a personal lack of putting effort into improving one's own employment prospects...
Most people would say coding at Amazon is probably a could gig, and if one felt "abused" one could easily take their skills to some other top tier employer. No doubt the politicians that offered incentives to locate the warehouse in some rust belt area are looking out for their own interest in trying to secure enough jobs so their "district" does not evaporate and they lose their cushy gig "representing" a dying area. Quite an interesting development. I can't wait for the Michael Moore "documentary"...
You wonder wrong. I'm college-educated, worked nothing but white collar jobs for the 20+ years after I graduated, and am now in business for myself.
However, having worked in a factory, and having family members who worked in warehouse jobs, I can promise you that such jobs do not HAVE to mean miserable working conditions. Moreover, empathy and compassion aside, treating workers well is simply good business because eventually word of exploitation gets out, and here we are.
Don't drink the Kool-Aid offered by those who try to get the middle class to eat itself. Unless you are in 2% at the top, you're one of us.
Yzette, the article does go on to say (in two places) that Amazon has, since the summer, taken on more permanent employees. This could well be a seasonal thing. I still view the article with some scepticism when the core group "representing" the workers numbers a mere 20 out of 900-2000. And, although the article focuses on the heat issue and almost makes it sound as though this is a year-round issue, the truth is that the measures taken to alleviate some workers' distress were during a short period when temperatures soared way above the seasonal norm.
I don't work at a warehouse, but where I work at, the hourly employees are not paid overtime. As a matter of fact, the hourly employees are not paid any extra time at all (overtime or straight time). The boss is always behind in paying for medical and dental insurance for employees. The boss closed the employee retirement plan years ago, and the boss only pays an invoice if he needs the supplier for something else later on. The boss uses everyone and is manipulative. This happens all over America. The reason why employers do this stuff is because they get away with it.
If those employers are breaking state or federal labor laws they can't get away with it - but only if someone pipes up instead of sitting back and taking it ...
The only legitimate purpose of a business is to maximize shareholder return. In the case of amazon.com, the company does this by means of razor thin margins to provide their customers with a combination of low prices, usually the lowest available, coupled with excellent convenience and customer service. Mistakes and problems are rare. But when they occur amazon quickly rectifies them.
I've been a customer of amazon for probably fifteen years. At first it was simply the greatest bookstore in the world. Now it's becoming the greatest store for many other prodiucts including an increasing share of my groceries and household supplies. I love Wal-Mart but amazon delivers my purchases right to my front porch. When I see my mail carrier or the UPS truck grinding up my drive I know I'm going to be getting just what I want at a great price. Unlike stores they have all of the flavors of dog and cat food almost all of the time. Unlike stores I only need handle my merchandise once. Unlike stores they have what is for me an almost infinite selection.
If the whiners and malcontents don't like it let them work somewhere else. Good riddance, they're the worst of workers. Keep wages down; keep prices down; keep profits up. Each feeds the next in and endless chain. Best of all, the more money they make, the more they'll expand their lines.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
