Back in January, Willie Rennie called out both Amazon and Nicola Sturgeon over low wages and poor working conditions at the company’s Dunfermline depot. A couple of months later, he found himself banned from the premises after Amazon management cancelled a planned meeting with workers to discuss the issues.
Things haven’t got any better for the beleaguered employees at the depot. This week, the Courier revealed that some seasonal workers were sleeping out in tents in this weather to save the costs of commuting to and from the depot.
Then an undercover reporter working for the Sunday Times (£) wrote about her experience of working there:
In one case, a woman who spent three days in hospital with a kidney infection was docked two points, reduced to one on appeal, despite providing a hospital note.
And:
Workers being threatened with dismissal if they accrued too many points for illness, late attendance or absence, or for making too many errors or failing to hit productivity targets
•A claim from a worker in Amazon’s on-site first-aid clinic that workers were under pressure to hit targets and were suffering injuries in the rush to collect products
•Workers were expected to cover more than 10 miles a day in the warehouse collecting items, but water dispensers to ensure they avoided dehydration were regularly empty
• The reporter was told she had to sign an opt-out of the working time directive, which limits weekly hours to 48, in order to get a job.
Willie has called on Amazon to change its ways:
The report reveals terrible working conditions.
It chimes with the feedback I have received from local people over a long period of time. It confirms that Amazon have created intolerable working conditions for many.
The company don’t seem to be interested in keeping workers for too long as they work them until they drop.
They have generated an oppressive culture where management and some workers put undue pressure on workers.
It’s time for Amazon to finally change their ways. That means a change to wages and to working conditions.
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11 Comments
This is the type of exploitation that our party MUST ensure is wiped out, it is an affront to our society and too many global businesses are up to these tricks
It really is ridiculous that it’s allowed to continue, and that this happens with the support of public money.
The public were rightly disgusted when the behaviour at Sports Direct came to light, but it’s just a bit too convenient to gloss over when it’s amazon, because they are so ubiquitous, and if we’re honest, from a customer point of view, provide a very good service. If it was simply a case of them being cheap because they don’t pay proper tax, then they’d be much easier to avoid, but I know loads of people, including myself, who would rather buy from the high street, or a suitable alternative, but often give up, because the only alternative is an online retailer you’ve never heard of, that you suspect may be a scam. It’s easy enough to swap Starbucks for an independent coffee shop, or at least Costa, but breaking the amazon habit is harder, and they know it. When you try to research which high street businesses are ethical, you quickly realise your options are very limited. Articles like the one in the Times are invaluable, and remind us that decent journalism still exists and should be nurtured.
The real problem is that governments at all levels too are scared to say no to anything that has the sniff of jobs about it. So often I see local newspapers announce that a major retailer is “looking to create xx local jobs”, when really a big business with dubious employment practices wants to open a new shop in an unsuitable location that’s contrary to the local plan. They’ve thrown down the gauntlet to the local planners and councillors that might have dared to stop them. Any dissent from local government is framed as them having no interest in job creation, and no understanding of the needs of the local population. You may get some comment about Guardian readers who like to knit their own hummus.
It becomes a race to the bottom, with a game of chicken on the side. I’d like to say Local Planning Authorities should have more guts at saying no, but they need better support. When a big business claims to be creating new jobs, they should be challenged on their working practices, and how many of those jobs will be full time in secure contracts and at or above the living wage? A company like amazon will inevitably need seasonal workers, so there’s little point in holding that against them, but they must not abuse the desperation of local workers either.
During the first SNP administration, Amazon in Dunfermline was given some sort of financial assistance by the government. Tavish Scott, then the leader, questioned why money was being given to a large multi-national, rather than small, indigenous businesses. He was lambasted by the Scottish Government for ‘talking Scotland down’, if I recall correctly; how often have we heard that line since? I think Willie has proved that Tavish has been vindicated.
It’s unfortunate that i’m no longer a party member as I too work in an Amazon `fulfilment centre`. Although I’ve not seen people camped outside it’s like no other working environment i’ve ever encountered.
It’s all very well saying `it shouldn’t happen` – the problem is that there are simply too many people chasing too few jobs. You need to have a solution to long-term unemployment with British people otherwise all that happens is that the jobs are soaked up fleeing economic terror from PIGS countries,
Where I work 20% of people are EU citizens and 50% are BME British the rest are Scots/English/Welsh or basically people i can only assume `are let in for Christmas`. This is why people have migration at the top of their lists – at the moment. It’s not enough going on about a 2nd referendum – you need to have policies that deal with the problems of those at the bottom. No one with wherewithall and ambition in a 5th largest economy should ever have to work in such conditions.
Then the policy of the LDV is about only giving people a column who are members of the party.
@james
Your comment is welcome. Do look at the “Write for us!” page on this site. The editors may accept an article from you.
It would be interesting hear fresh ideas for employment in the UK. I doubt the Cabinet have any.
james,
Your right something needs to be done for the workers. Unfortunately politicians of all stripes seem to find it too difficult and distract us in a multitude of ways. They all have ways of doing this, it may be blaming the EU and advocating Brexit without a plan, granting people rights that without money mean nothing, but few of then tackle the issue that matters, people want economic security. The party that can advocate that and make a compelling case will prosper.
Willie is always to the point. However, while checking your legal page (under ‘Write for us’) here, I noticed that LDV is a participant in the Amazon Affiliates Programme. While I appreciate that LDV needs sources of income, Amazon is not a charity and no doubt profits far more from this than LDV does.
Giant corporations have far more power than politicians. Working conditions and wages in Britain and Europe will continue to deteriorate. We are in a race to the bottom. The outcome will be a future of poverty for the majority of people in Europe.
Does any one know if government agencies such as the HSE and others with responsibilities for employment etc. have the right to conduct unannounced inspections and (confidential) interviews with any person on the premises at the time of their visit? and if there is why aren’t they using these powers?
I ask as it seems this is something that is necessary, given the issues at Sports Direct and other employers…
‘Giant corporations have far more power than politicians. Working conditions and wages in Britain and Europe will continue to deteriorate.’
Giant corporations have more power than many governments. In Europe, there are firms that only the EU is big enough to stand up to. Countries outside the EU can be picked off one by one.
I agree Ian. It’s too easy for the big corporations to threaten to move to another area, or even country with lower standards, which is exactly why we need to work at the highest possible levels to ensure a joined-up approach.
The same should also apply to these business grants designed to get a large, but flawed, employer to set-up shop in their area, just so they can announce that they have supported xxx new jobs (whilst sacrificing the equivalent elsewhere).