Amazon should be a leader of work practices

Amazon celebrated becoming the second US company after Apple to reach $ 1 trillion worth on Tuesday, a day after Labor Day in America, in the honor of the American labor movement. Although crossing the previously unimaginable line is more than enough reason for the party to continue, the company's work practices are no longer to be celebrated.

Amazon has a long history of collective redress on wages and working conditions, as well as repeated strikes by Amazon workers in Germany and other countries. Few Amazonian workers have collective bargaining means to prevent the abuse of Amazon warehouse workers who have to compete against each other and the average time required to execute an order to avoid penalty points and dismissal. Amazon has managed to bypass unions in most countries since its inception in 1994.

Countless reports and interviews have documented anxiety and the exhaustion of working conditions in Amazon's distribution centers. Amazon's business model appears to be dependent on its own warehouse employees paying the price for faster deliveries and lower prices, while the company also continues to have a reputation for not responding to shareholders' expectations. work issues.

Amazon is clearly asserted as the world's leading retailer. Now she has to sell herself as a leader in work practices.

Lauren Compare

Managing Director of Boston Common Asset Management, Boston, Massachusetts, USA