A little while ago I ordered something from Jeff Bezos, and was astonished to see that a “next day” delivery option was available; this, mind you, for what I would consider a non-emergency item. (On checking, it was for this TV series.)
Given how much work this entails for the actual workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center, it seemed a bit much. So I’m not surprised whenever I see Amazon’s employees kicking back at the working conditions there, with timed (or no) bathroom breaks, performance metrics that would make an 18th-century textile company boss blush, and pay which quite frankly makes even a committed capitalist like myself feel embarrassed.
Small wonder that Bezos has fought tooth and nail against the unionization of his workforce. And yet, even I, as (once again) a committed capitalist, can see that it’s precisely these kind of working conditions that caused the formation of workers’ unions in the first place.
And then the unions go overboard like those in the U.K., and we all hates on them unions… with good reason.
Here’s my solution to the Amazon situation. I have no problem with Bezos offering rapid delivery; but such deliveries should incur something like a 25% surcharge — with said surcharge amount being added in toto to the paycheck of the worker who actually filled the order (and yes: Amazon can tell which worker filled which order).
That has as much likelihood of happening as Biden’s socialists lowering income taxes, of course, because someone has to pay for Jeff’s toys.
Do not take this for an uncharacteristic (for me) shot at wealthy people: I have no problem with people building wealth and spending money.
But I do object to the ill-treatment of workers at the bottom of the pyramid, all in the name of “customer satisfaction”.