General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Do you use Amazon to purchase products [View all]d_r
(6,907 posts)I support union, I support made in USA and I buy it as much as possible. I have a ton of stuff made in USA and made by union in USA.
I bought a new car. I live in Chattanooga, TN, there is a VW plant here that makes passats. I was thinking about getting one and it was right while that whole UAW thing was going on. I decided not to support them and bought a ford cmax. I liked the idea of buying from vw because they have a whole lot jobs in my community. But I couldn't support them because of the UAW vote.
Another big employer here is amazon. A lot of people really seek out those amazon jobs. And I agree with you, they are crappy jobs and they hire temp labor. But people really want those seasonal jobs. They pay well compared to other alternatives or no alternative. There are around 2,500 people working there full time plus more seasonal, and they start at $11 an hour. Now that isn't a lot, but it is a good starting wage around here. The minimum wage here is 7.25.
Do I want the conditions and labor relations to be better? Absolutely. But where is the cut line? I also like that they give a lot of people here jobs. People really want to work there. In a way it is almost classist to say that those folks would be better off not working there.
I like what the poster said above "if the employees called for a boycott, I would boycott." I would, too. That makes sense to me as a way of looking at it.
You have that picture of Georgia. There's a lot of people down there working a lot of different jobs in terrible conditions. I am not going to begrudge those folks their jobs. I'm not going to begrudge the folks that work at amazon either. Heck a lot of people in N. Georgia go after those amazon jobs in Chattanooga.