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The Amazon Experience: Why Amazon Needs a Union? · Spending time with Dr. Christina

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  Hello everyone and welcome back to my podcast
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  spending time with dr. Christina. We're in season
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  8 episode 3 and We're still in the Amazon experience
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  and tonight we're gonna talk about why Amazon
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  needs a union You know, I've talked lightly about
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  unions before and the importance of them, especially
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  for blue -collar workers I can think of better
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  representation Inside the workplace than a union
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  And I bring this up especially because when we
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  think about The blue -collar worker you're in
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  the factory. You're in the warehouse a lot of
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  times You're thinking you can go to an HR representative
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  or your manager for that matter and get some
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  kind of help but that's not the case because
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  Your manager may be compassionate to your issue
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  even HR but they all work for the organization.
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  They all work for corporate. So in order to get
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  real help for whatever the dilemma is, a union
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  could be the best tool for an organization. And
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  being at Amazon, I can tell you there is a desperate
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  need at the warehouse level for unions. And we
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  see some Amazon warehouses, I believe in Staten
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  Island and another have been able to achieve
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  getting a union but so many more need to have
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  the union in place and i know you're thinking
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  why a union why would i need this well first
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  of all let's just do a light comparison between
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  ups ups has a union this is why their drivers
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  that were driving around in trucks with no heat
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  and no air conditioning got their pay raise increase
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  The conditions were harsh for them. They're working
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  also. Many delivery drivers not only have to
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  oversee or check their packages in the truck,
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  but they also have to deliver them. And then
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  we think about the people that are actually in
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  the warehouse. These people work on a conveyor
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  belt. Not all the time is UPS following directives,
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  right? They're working without gloves. Safety
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  is not the same kind of concern it is at Amazon.
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  However, that union representative helps to ensure
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  that all those employees are not just tossed
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  out at whim. Why? Because we have at -will employment.
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  So this is why at Amazon, this would be invaluable.
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  Because when you're going through things, And
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  you don't always feel like you can talk to, say,
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  the PA, the process assistant, or the manager,
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  the level four, the level five, or even the level
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  six manager. You don't even feel like you can
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  trust HR. HR, a lot of times at Amazon, you speak
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  to someone at a counter that really doesn't know
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  too much, no offense, but this is kind of the
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  way it is. or you're speaking to someone on a
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  hotline that is part of a Contracted team of
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  people trained to give you answers in your benefits
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  mostly or maybe disciplinary actions a Union
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  rep can see things through they can protect your
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  job they can help you with your salary help you
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  with your benefits and help that you don't get
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  eliminated at whim and I think this is Why you
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  definitely want to engage a union you Amazonians
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  that are out there Don't be afraid of unions
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  because unions can help you and if you get somebody
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  in like say the Teamsters and you're getting
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  people in that are properly trained and are organized
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  They'll help you prosper in your job To keep
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  your job to do well to advance to stop frivolous
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  write -ups especially when There are situations
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  when Amazon is writing people up over policies
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  they don't even adhere to. Something to think
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  about, right? You are at risk of losing your
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  job at Amazon for something they don't even follow
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  consistently or at all. Unions can help to eliminate
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  that. This is why I'm spending this episode talking
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  about unions for Amazonians There is a great
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  need that can help you when you feel like you
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  can't Communicate what you're going through if
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  you feel like you're being targeted by a manager
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  and hey that happens anywhere, but it does happen
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  at Amazon and If you feel like they want to get
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  rid of you while we have at will employment and
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  there's still a fine line meaning they just can't
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  arbitrarily fire you there's still certain points
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  that have to be done and if you don't know what
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  these points are whether they're policies or
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  laws then you're losing your job and you're losing
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  all your rights with it because you're not aware
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  of them your union rep can help you They can
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  take action for you. They'll stand in the gap
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  for you to argue with that manager when you don't
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  want to argue with them. And when I say argue,
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  I don't mean argue per se. I mean, have a discussion,
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  even debate policies because What it comes down
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  to is that not every employee that is in the
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  warehouse knows their rights They don't know
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  their employee rights. They don't know the policies.
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  They don't know the state rights They don't know
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  the federal rights because employment Employment
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  law is under the federal umbrella so Getting
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  a union in there could help protect so many people
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  It can ensure that you do have your breaks that
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  you don't have to work through your breaks that
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  you don't have to work mandatory over time that
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  if they're demanding certain things from you
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  that are not in your job description, you're
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  not gonna have to do it and If you need accommodation,
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  you certainly will get it so engaging a union
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  can help and that's just a few of the things
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  that I'm mentioning now that could benefit you
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  but engaging a union to your organization could
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  help you to do well it could help you to really
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  build your career knowing you have the support
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  and while unions generally only work from say
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  the tier one to say tier three even process assistance
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  would be cover it's still is a help because a
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  lot of times managers can hire lawyers and have
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  more support readily than someone that is at
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  say the tier one the level one position. So I
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  spend this time on this particular episode to
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  talk about unions so that to emphasize to you
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  the value of them and how they can help you get
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  unstuck and even if you are a level three. Which
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  is a process assistant role You are protected
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  with the union and maybe you've been stuck in
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  that level three position forever Maybe you have
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  been one of the folks that haven't even made
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  it to a level three position a Union can help
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  to start to look at why you're being turned down
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  What's going on that you are not? in the pool
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  for promotion. And what I mentioned earlier about
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  how unions can help with mandatory overtime,
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  this is something that they would negotiate in
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  your union contract. If that mandatory overtime
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  that they're calling for is not already negotiated
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  in that union agreement, this is something that's
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  not going to happen for you, right? Supposed
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  to say, hey, everyone, mandatory overtime today,
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  this and this and this is going on like some
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  organizations do in their warehouse. It's just
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  not going to happen unless it is written and
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  identified in your union agreement. So again,
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  I just can't. say enough the benefits of having
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  a union in an environment such as Amazon's warehouse.
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  And for those of you that are interested in getting
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  a union to your warehouse, Give the teamsters
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  a call start that move in the right direction
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  to get a healthier work environment where you
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  can get Representation that's organized and that
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  will protect your future in the long run Well,
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  that's all I have for you guys with this episode
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  I want to thank you again for joining me and
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  until the next time I wish you all a very good
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  week