from Hacker News

Leaked memo reveals Amazon’s plans to combat the Teamsters in California

by hownottowrite on 7/31/22, 7:45 PM with 181 comments

• by zugi on 7/31/22, 9:31 PM

  I read the article expecting to see terrible actions by Amazon fighting the union.

  Instead the article was about the Teamsters union convincing local governments to block Amazon from opening buildings, and Amazon "fighting back" by increasing their hiring of needy ex-cons and minorities from local colleges, ending their marijuana drug tests, and otherwise working to ingratiate themselves with their comminities.

  The Teamsters don't come out looking like the good guys...

• by dahdum on 7/31/22, 9:06 PM

  Anyone hiring ex-inmates in large numbers is doing society a great benefit, whether it’s altruism, PR, or both hardly matters to me. It’s not easy managing that cohort and few businesses are even willing to try. Many of those that are have worse work conditions.

  I’m 100% on board for tax cuts or subsidies for businesses who keep the formerly incarcerated employed.

• by JamesBarney on 7/31/22, 8:49 PM

  This article is both too cynical and yet not cynical enough.

  Of course Amazon is doing good not out of the goodness of it's heart but for good PR. This is true of literally every large corporation.

  But that doesn't mean the good they do isn't good.

  The way they are "neutralizing" them with ex inmates and vulnerable students is they're making a special effort to hire ex-inmates and underprivileged students.

• by imgabe on 7/31/22, 11:43 PM

  > higher than average injury rates

  We really need some kind of standard for how to present statistics in the news so that it’s not misleading.

  If you take a bunch of numbers and average them together some will be higher than the average and some will be lower (unless they’re all the same number), because that’s how averages work.

  What is the injury rate? How high is it? Is it an order of magnitude more? Is it one more than the average?

  Just making vague scary sounding statements like “higher than average“ is nothing but manipulation.

• by kcplate on 7/31/22, 9:11 PM

  So apparently “neutralize” is the big bad trigger word here despite this quote?

  > Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien told Recode in July that his union is intent on “disrupting [Amazon’s] network until they get to a point where they surrender

• by Grim-444 on 8/1/22, 12:02 AM

  Has Vox ever once published a single article that was positive or at least neutral about Amazon? Why do we allow such insanely biased media? Do people read Vox and think they're receiving an accurate depiction of reality?

  It's just hit piece after hit piece after hit piece. I guess you could try to argue that across hundreds of thousands / millions of employees and thousands of products the company never ever does anything worth praising or even worth neutral reporting, and every single thing the company does is evil, but I think we know that isn't remotely true.

• by baskethead on 7/31/22, 9:44 PM

  Purposefully manipulative headlines like this are why I don't trust most articles from sources like vox.

  The headline is used in a way to make it seem like Amazon is targeting students that are vulnerable to them, meanwhile Amazon is targeting those that would benefit the most in society, because they are most vulnerable to economic issues, like ex-inmates and students. Vox is doing its best to manipulate their words to make things look as bad as possible.

  I wish there were a feature where I could automatically not see articles from certain content providers because they are so skewed and biased.

• by brahweh on 8/1/22, 1:33 AM

  The article claims "around 80 percent of families with children in the LAUSD live at or below the poverty threshold". Click the source to find the actual quote, "about 80% of Los Angeles Unified students come from families living in poverty". These statements are clearly not interchangeable - a good reminder to take all statistics from pop journalism sites like this with a grain of salt.

• by lobocinza on 8/1/22, 12:42 AM

  Are they using ex-inmates to harass unions and infiltrating students on unions? Nope. They are just hiring ex-inmates and students more which is a positive thing regardless of the motive. Being employed makes students and ex-inmates less vulnerable. Just skip the article.

• by themitigating on 7/31/22, 10:01 PM

  This headlines made me think (thought unlikely) that Amazon is hiring ex-cons and dropouts to beat the shit out of union organizers.

• by pfdietz on 8/1/22, 1:40 AM

  Amazon also burns through employees so quickly that they may be forced to resort to these sources. But they will burn through them as well.

• by mrxd on 7/31/22, 9:43 PM

  I’m a huge supporters of unions, but Amazon has been very open about their opposition to unions. The fundamental argument for unions is that companies serve shareholders at the expense of workers. Opposing unions is some kind of shocking corporate malfeasance, it’s just the nature of capitalism.

• by CSMastermind on 7/31/22, 8:51 PM

  I really dislike sensationalized headlines like this. A more accurate one might say:

  > Amazon's plan to counter pressure from the Teamsters Union focuses on investing in non-profits.

  For those who didn't read the article:

  A leaked Amazon memo shows that the Teamsters Union is effectively putting pressure on Amazon by convincing its members to pressure politicians into not granting Amazon tax breaks, land grants, etc.

  Amazon is worried that this represents a real threat to expansion as having local politicians turn against them will almost certainly mean their competitors like UPS (who is friendly with the Teamsters) will outcompete them.

  So, Amazon is going to invest in local charities like those for ex-convicts and low-income students. This has two purposes:

  1. Give politicians an excuse to give Amazon tax breaks (look at what they invest in the community).

  2. Build positive sentiment with local members who will talk to politicians on Amazon's behalf. They'll be especially motivated to if Amazon threatens to pull funding from their non-profits.

• by stevenjgarner on 7/31/22, 9:19 PM

  Next time you're at a union meeting, ask them about any boxes they own at sports stadiums. Ask if you as a paid union member can use the box that you are paying for with your dues.