Bye, Amazon: VP Quits Over COVID-19 - Cites 'vein of toxicity running through' company

[kpete]

"And at the end of the day, the big problem isn’t the specifics of Covid-19 response. It’s that Amazon treats the humans in the warehouses as fungible units of pick-and-pack potential. Only that’s not just Amazon, it’s how 21st-century capitalism is done."

May 1st was my last day as a VP and Distinguished Engineer at Amazon Web Services, after five years and five months of rewarding fun. I quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19.

What with big-tech salaries and share vestings, this will probably cost me over a million (pre-tax) dollars, not to mention the best job I’ve ever had, working with awfully good people. So I’m pretty blue.

What happened · Last year, Amazonians on the tech side banded together as Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ), first coming to the world’s notice with an open letter promoting a shareholders’ resolution calling for dramatic action and leadership from Amazon on the global climate emergency. I was one of its 8,702 signatories. ¶

While the resolution got a lot of votes, it didn’t pass. Four months later, 3,000 Amazon tech workers from around the world joined in the Global Climate Strike walkout. The day before the walkout, Amazon announced a large-scale plan aimed at making the company part of the climate-crisis solution. It’s not as though the activists were acknowledged by their employer for being forward-thinking; in fact, leaders were threatened with dismissal.

Fast-forward to the Covid-19 era. Stories surfaced of unrest in Amazon warehouses, workers raising alarms about being uninformed, unprotected, and frightened. Official statements claimed every possible safety precaution was being taken. Then a worker organizing for better safety conditions was fired, and brutally insensitive remarks appeared in leaked executive meeting notes where the focus was on defending Amazon “talking points”.

Warehouse workers reached out to AECJ for support. They responded by internally promoting a petition and organizing a video call for Thursday April 16 featuring warehouse workers from around the world, with guest activist Naomi Klein. An announcement sent to internal mailing lists on Friday April 10th was apparently the flashpoint. Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, two visible AECJ leaders, were fired on the spot that day. The justifications were laughable; it was clear to any reasonable observer that they were turfed for whistleblowing.

Management could have objected to the event, or demanded that outsiders be excluded, or that leadership be represented, or any number of other things; there was plenty of time. Instead, they just fired the activists.
..........

MUCH MORE!:
https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2020/04/29/Leaving-Amazon

Link to tweet

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[Joinfortmill]

1. You did the right thing. I know it wasn't easy. Best of luck and stay safe.

[redstatebluegirl]

2. A corporate executive with a heart, soul and conscience, something rare indeed.

[bluestarone]

3. TY and to say I'm proud of you!!

[smirkymonkey]

4. K&R

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Don't like Amazon and that's putting it mildly.

A lot of Amazon seasonal workforce are full-time retired RVers. It's not an easy job. I wouldn't do it as a full-time retired RVer. I'd rather workamp which I've done, for the Park service and USACE and private campgrounds. Treated so much better.

[jimfields33]

6. Amazon is great and awful at the same time

They have little finds that can’t be found anywhere else and for the most part they are efficient. On the other hand they seem to treat their employees like crap. They could easily be the best company to work for if they changed a few things. And wouldn’t even cost them much. 1 percent of profits could change everything. I hope they do change.

[Doremus]

12. Sounds interesting.

A couple of questions though: what's a "full time retired RVer" and what's "workamp"?

[Kali]

16. folks that live full time in their RVs (camper trailers)

workamp = working in exchange for campsite/camp privileges at parks and monuments

[DBoon]

7. "it's how 21st-century capitalism is done."

It's how capitalism has been done for over 200 years

We are living in volume I of Das Capital right now

[grumpyduck]

8. Just yesterday I ordered a fairly expensive item from a well-known business.

I could have saved a few pennies on Amazon, but decided to give the full profits to the other business.

Been doing it more and more recently.

[leftieNanner]

9. I do not buy anything from Amazon

Or, I haven't in quite a few years. They put local companies out of business, and they treat their workers like crap.

My family kind of rolls their eyes at me because I am political about the companies that I support with my dollars. I don't eat at Carl's Junior, nor Chick Filay. I don't buy any paper products that come from the Koch Brothers companies. etc. Amazon is on that list as well.

Edit to add: I don't buy Barilla pasta because the owner is an out-loud homophobic jerk!

[oasis]

10. Union Yes!

[Boomerproud]

11. Mr. Bezos. You've got some explaining to do.

At least some people have a conscious.

[BigmanPigman]

13. Yeah, someone with integrity and self respect. Good for him!

I have been boycotting Amazon for weeks (when this thing started against the workers' safety).

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. Surely a VP & Distinguished Engineer has a name, but I can't find it in the OP or the blog post. .nt

[scarletwoman]

15. His name is to the right of his blog post at the link in the OP: Tim Bray.

He is also named in this LBN post on the DU home page: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142486398 (hat-tip - Omaha Steve)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Thanks. But that is not the blog post. That is an article by CNBC, in a different thread. Thx. . nt

[scarletwoman]

18. The link to the blog post is in kpete's OP. (nt)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. OK, now I finally see it. In tiny print off to the side of the blog post

This post originally contained:

That's my point. Blog post doesn't have name. OP doesn't. Tweet doesn't. The CNBC article does

Thank you for link the CNBC article that does have the name.

[scarletwoman]

21. Glad you found it!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

22. I salute Tim Bray for taking a principled stand on behalf of human beings and over profit. . . . nt

[Brainfodder]

23. The now richest man (by $ count) is still "fucking over" employees?

That's a result of this capitalism model.

The vast majority get scraps.

Trickle down was/is BULLSHIT!

All for bottom line/stock price/share holders, fuck the rest of ya'll!

That's a result of this capitalism model.

[Hekate]

24. That's how it should be done