{"id":4429,"date":"2021-07-05T09:59:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T08:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/the-amazon-panopticon-is-bad-for-workers-and-for-democracy\/"},"modified":"2023-11-10T13:56:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T12:56:08","slug":"the-amazon-panopticon-is-bad-for-workers-and-for-democracy","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/the-amazon-panopticon-is-bad-for-workers-and-for-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Amazon Panopticon is Bad for Workers and for Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n

According to\u00a0The Amazon Panopticon<\/a><\/strong>\u2014UNI Global Union\u2019s latest report on the intrusive and all-encompassing Amazon worker surveillance systems\u2014Amazon fast purchasing, and ultrafast delivery process is hiding the pernicious effects this system has on its 1.3 million workers. Amazon warehouse workers and drivers are constantly subjected to a high-pressure environment that breaks their bodies and ultimately forces them to quit.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAmazon workers are unwilling subjects\u00a0in a sophisticated and all-encompassing experiment\u00a0in digital surveillance, one that is having disastrous\u00a0impacts on their bodies and lives,\u201d\u00a0said Christy Hoffman General Secretary of UNI Global Union. \u201cBut make no mistake, Amazon workers across the world are standing against Amazon\u00b4s gruelling and intrusive work environment,\u00a0united\u00a0to build democratic worker power through unions to promote a workplace where every worker is respected and treated with dignity.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Scanners, cameras, private investigators, and other methods\u00a0not only pressure Amazon employees to work faster.\u00a0With its unrealistic and\u00a0body-breaking<\/a>\u00a0productivity goals, and intrusive employee surveillance, Amazon treats workers as disposable items. And\u00a0now we know that Amazon\u2019s\u00a0staggeringly high worker turnover<\/a>\u00a0is not a flaw of the system\u2014it\u2019s the system<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u201cIn every step of the process workers are constantly watched, recorded, and their labour measured,\u201d said\u00a0Alessandro Delfanti,\u00a0Associate\u00a0Professor at the University of Toronto\u00a0and one of the authors of the report. \u201cThe oceans of data Amazon collects about its workers\u2014their productivity rates, location, driving habits, and personal opinions, among others\u2014provide the company with unparalleled amounts of information. Amazon uses it to control workers. Among other effects, the power Amazon derives from this surveillance can undermine attempts by workers to unionize to improve their working conditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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According to the report, \u201cAmazon facilities\u00a0have industry-leading injury rates, and workers around\u00a0the world report stress and anxiety as the rhythms of\u00a0work required by the company force them to avoid\u00a0hydrating to reduce bathroom breaks, pee in bottles,\u00a0and take unsafe shortcuts. Widespread\u00a0precarity in the\u00a0company\u2019s warehouses and delivery networks makes\u00a0many employees even more vulnerable to surveillance as\u00a0they strive to get their next contract renewal.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAmazon\u2019s ambitions depicted in this report are the reminiscence of a bad dystopia. At the heart of it, robotisation and the total control of the individual as a worker. This disappearance of the human in favour of corporate profitability must be prohibited. We must remind Amazon of its duties as a company and legislate to protect workers,\u201d said\u00a0Le\u00efla Chaibi, Member of the European Parliament.<\/p>\r\n

To fight back, the authors urges that \u201cnew\u00a0policy choices that are strong enough to counter the challenges generated by Amazon are needed if we are to stop the harms the company inflicts on workers across the globe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis report has highlighted the most problematic effects of workplace surveillance at Amazon. Now it is up to workers, their unions and policy makers to make the changes necessary to build a more just and sustainable future,\u201d the report concludes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest UNI report on Amazon\u00b4s workers surveillance systems exposes corporate abuse of its 1.3 workforce  <\/p>\n

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