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Beating The Heat While Fat: Torso Skin Folds

Being fat in summer is hard for a lot of reasons, and one of them is skin folds. This is because skin folds love to trap moisture, and moisture+heat=bad. And moisture+heat+friction=worse.

When you have skin folds, summer can really suck. I'm not going to touch on any of the mental and emotional issues that come from the way fat bodies are treated- I'm talking about the physical issues that come from heat. Fat people sweat more! Our body fat acts as an insulator, meaning that we have to put out more sweat for evaporative cooling to be effective- and trust me, it's not always that effective.

There are lots of places skin folds develop, but the two I'm going to focus on today are abdominal and chest skin folds, and give you some specific information and recommendations for what you can do about them.

The abdominal skin fold, also known as apron belly, is tissue that hangs down over your abdomen and upper pubic area. The more technical term for this is a pannus. This tends to be a skin fold with a lot of surface area, since it usually goes from hip to hip, the whole length of your front. Pannus can also develop after a pregnancy, or after weight loss (and weight loss surgery). The principle is the same- the area under it needs to be cared for no matter how it develops!

Chest skin folds are probably the most common type of skin fold because most people with breasts has them. But you don't need mammary tissue to develop this skin fold! Anybody, regardless of sex, can develop overlapping skin on their chest. There's many more protective products available for people with breasts, due to the cultural expectation of bra wearing. But for folks with gynecomastia or pseudogynecomastia, there's less information and resources out there.

By the way: gynecomastia is excess breast gland tissue that develops in men/AMAB people. Pseudogynecomastia is when the glands don't develop but the fat deposits do. Externally and visually, they're very similar, but there are some physiological differences that... don't matter for this piece honestly. Whether it's glands or fat, the tissue is still there, and still needs to be taken care of!

Skin Fold Skin Care

Nobody teaches you this stuff, so don't feel bad if you don't know it. When you're fat, nobody ever tells you how to take care of your skin, unless they're shaming you for it. Usually the only people who care about fat people's comfort are other fat people. So let's talk about how to take care of your skin folds in the summer.

The key elements to skin fold care and comfort are keeping the skin dry, but also keeping it hydrated. Sounds a little paradoxical, I know, but when I say "dry" I'm referring to the surface of the skin. You have sweat glands all over your body, and when you sweat on the surface of your skin, it evaporates or it's wicked away by your clothes. But when air can't get to it because it's under a skin fold, the moisture just stays there. And that's not good!

Moisture trapped between skin folds can lead to a few things that aren't a lot of fun. It can promote skin yeast infections and bacterial infections. It can lead to intertrigo, a red bumpy friction rash. Heat rash is more likely in the summer... because, well, it's hot.

One of the best things you can do is introduce a barrier between the sides of the skin fold. This can be barrier cream (my least favorite, it's messy), body powder, friction gel (like the kind of thing you use for chub rub on your thighs- think Gold Bond or Bodyglide sticks, or Monistat anti-chafing gel), or a physical barrier made from soft cloth.

For a pannus, you can get these things called tummy liners that are a crescent-shaped band of cloth. You lift up the pannus, lay the band against your upper pubic area, and let the skin fold hold it in place. Some people will tuck the front of their underwear under the skin fold, but for others this is less comfortable. And this whole thing is about keeping you comfortable, so do what feels right.

If you have breasts, a bra with cups is a great way to help keep them dry. A bra without cups will often squish them together, and while it can still keep the area under your breasts dry, it can promote moisture between the breasts. For some people, this isn't a problem- it all depends on the size and shape of your body. The cups don't have to be wired- they just need to keep your breasts separated so that they're not rubbing against each other.

If you don't want to wear a bra with cups, or if you don't like the feeling of wearing a bra at all, or if you want extra sweat protection, you can get cotton bra liners, just like the tummy liners. They work the same way- lift your breasts or chest tissue and put the liner in the fold beneath. If you have a small skin fold that doesn't come down very far, this might not work so well, but if you have a larger skin fold that's got more than half an inch or so of overlap, this should stay in place just fine.

You can also of course wear bra liners with with bras. The band will hold it the liner in place, adding an extra layer of padding and sweat protection. But if you don't wear a bra, if your breasts or chest tissue is substantial enough, it will stay in place.

Bra liners are flat. If you wear one, unless you're shirtless, nobody will know. They can help keep you dry, even if you don't have developed breast tissue- like think about the skin folds that fat people without breasts get.

Even if you're not getting a shower before bed, it's a good idea to take a gentle wipe and swipe in between the skin folds. It'll help soothe the skin and prevent bacteria or yeast from colonizing the surface. Be sure to wash the folds with a gentle, ph balanced soap or cleanser. And when you get out of the water, whether that's a shower, bath, pool, lake, whatever, take some time to dry your skin folds. Don't rub- pat them dry. Rubbing can irritate them. It's easy to forget, but you'll be glad you did. This kind of hygiene practice makes the skin feel nicer, calmer, and less irritated, and you deserve to be comfortable!

Hydrate or Die-Drate

When you're fat, you need to drink more water than smaller-bodied people. We sweat more and we have more surface area to our skin, which means more sweat glands, which means we lose more water. The best way to do this is simply to drink more. Drinking will help keep you cool and replenish the water lost to sweat anyways, so it's really important to keep that up in the summer, when it's hot!

If you don't like plain water, no worries! All liquid counts! I drink a lot of iced tea- even though it has caffeine and caffeine is a diuretic, the net effect is not dehydrating. And everything with water content counts, including the food you eat. Watermelon is 92% water. Cucumbers are 90% water. Popsicles are almost entirely water with some sugar in there. Get them at the store, or make some ice pops in the freezer with your favorite fruits. Freeze grapes, they're super delicious when frozen, and grapes are like 82% water. Try to think about your daily snacks and meals in terms of water, and see where you can add a little more hydration!

Now, you may want to know, how much is enough? The old 8 glasses a day adage isn't really accurate. The current science suggests 3,000 ml for men and 2,200 ml for women, but where do these numbers come from? The fact that there's a sex difference suggests that this is based on average body size- and it turns out these numbers come from European population studies that did not include a lot of fat people. So I did some more hunting and some reliable, but not peer-reviewed sources, suggest that you should drink about half an ounce of water per your weight in pounds. That's an easy enough metric to understand! And you can always drink a little more. While you may have heard of people becoming sick from water intoxication, that's extremely rare.

So in conclusion: drink lots of water and keep the area underneath your skin folds dry. Allow yourself to prioritize your comfort and don't feel bad about the skin you're in. Eat a popsicle.

Feel free to add on with any additions and other helpful tips, but remember: fatphobic commentary is not welcome here, and mean comments will be removed. Advice to lose weight is not helpful- even if someone is losing weight, they still have to live in the body they have now. And that body deserves to be cared for.

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Vetted family fundraiser masterpost 1

Version date: May 2nd 2024.

This is a masterpost for the evacuation fundraisers I've vetted so far. The numbers next to the names have no significance beyond ease of navigation for me for when I check their progress in the future. You should look at the disclaimers instead and focus on those. Occasionally I will update these with new info, including new fundraisers, and the amount of cash that's been raised. Check in regularly on the original post when you see it being reblogged. In all likelihood once its reached you it's already outdated. This post is part of this masterpost series compiling fundraisers for Ghazzah and Sudan. I focus on Ghazzah as I am Palestinian and am more equipped to do verifications as I'm more familiar with my own country and its politics and dialect, but if I know a fundraiser for a Sudanese family is legit I will include it here.

Walaa Abusamra (1). 10 family members. 28.4k out of 80k €.

Ezzideen Shehab (2). 6 family members. 9.7k out of 32.5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Madleen Abu Jayyab (3). 4 family members. 18.7k out of 70k USD.

Jehad Shehada (4). 1 individual. 3.5k out of 15k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Aser Alassar (5). 5 family members. 405k out of 550k SEK. Or 37k out of 51k USD.

My friend Mona Abu Hamda (6). 9 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Mohammed Shamia (7). 7 family members. 10.7k out of 35k USD.

Abdullah Al-Saghir (8). 9 family members. 68.2k out of 100k €.

Randa Abubakr (9). 6 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Fadi Alshrafi (10). 9 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Osama Abdelrahman. (11). 9 family members. 44.7k out of 45k €. (1 CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS TREATMENT) NEARLY COMPLETE. ONLY 281€ LEFT.

Alhaw family and the Albittar family (12). Between 18 and 12 family members. 8.8k out of 90k €. (EXTREMELY LOW, NEEDS FUNDS)

Verified Fundraiser by Palestine Asdiqa to help a malnourished baby with cerebral palsy. (13) 7.7k out of 31k USD. (URGENT + CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS TREATMENT)

Rana Abu Ahmed (14). 6 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Mohammed Abu Matar (15). 6 family members. 13.4k out of 34k CAD.

Moataz Abu Sakran (16). 3 family members. 12.4k out of 20k $ ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN COMPLETE, NEEDS TRANSFER FEES COVERED. 629$ out of 5k needed.

Ayah Abu Sidu (17). 10 family members. 15.8k out of 50.4k USD.

Said Fadel (18). 7 family members. 19.7k out of 50k USD.

Tasneem Nabil Musa (19). 7 family members (ALL INJURED, NEED MEDICAL CARE.) 10.5k out of 50k USD

Belal Azmi Msallam (20). 14 family members. 7.1k out of 160k AUD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Mortaja Family (21). 11 family members. 28k out of 70k €.

Abu Ramadan family (22). 14 family members. 10k out of 148k €.

Mai Rajab (23). COMPLETED ✅

Amal Abu Shammala (24). 4 family members. 33.7k out of 42k €.

Maryam & family (25). 30.3k out of 50k USD.

Haneem Abdelhalim (26). 8 family members. 31.8k out of 40k USD raised.

Ahmed Masoud (27). 12 family members. 10k out of 60k €.

Mohammed Fareed (28). 30.2k out of 60k CAD.

Lena Nofal (29). 42.5k out of 44k € (NEARLY COMPLETE, original family registered to evacuate, extended family are being helped now)

Rasheda Alfaiomy (30). 6+ family members. 27.5k out of 65k USD.

Ula El Hindi (31). 1+ individuals. 8.6k out of 15k €.

Muhammad Safi (32). 5+ family members. 4.5k out of 30k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Yazan Khalaf (33). 18 family members. 16.9k out of 40k USD.

Afaf Masoud (34). 5+ family members (2 evacuated). 83.8k out of 110k €.

Motasem Khayal (35). 5 family members. 1k out of 43k € (26.5k needed for escape.) EXTREMELY LOW, NEEDS FUNDS.

Youseff Abu Saeed (36). 3 family members (1 is already out for treatment). 155k out of 200k USD.

Abdulaziz & Abdullah, escape & surgery (37). 2+ family members (1 has already been treated, 1 NEEDS TREATMENT). 96.3k out of 150k BP.

Nadine Abdullatif (38). 8 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Sami Salhab (39). 6 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Jehad Al Ghandour (40). 5 family members (1 already evacuated). 31k out of 100k USD

Mahmoud Algharabli (41) COMPLETED ✅ (check last section for more info)

Dr. Marah & family (42). 2+ family members. 7.2k out of 40k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Khaled Alshabrawi (43). 5 family members. 1.5k out of 35k € (25k needed for escape, but will begin with 10k for stable housing). LOW ON FUNDS.

Muhammad Osama Alzaq (44). 5 family members. 3.1k out of 60k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Mohammed Wishah (45). 7 family members + 1 pet. 7.9k out of 71.5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Muhe Ayman (46). 5+ family members. 6k out of 60k €. (CAUTION: If you scroll down in the GFM there are photos of mutilated and dead babies.) LOW ON FUNDS.

Abdallah Animal Rescue (47). 1 individual + lots of pets. 34.5k out of 40k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Haya Orouq (48). 5 family members (1 injured, NEEDS TREATMENT). 35.9k out of 50k.

Retaj Abu Abdo (49). 8 family members. 9.1k out of 60k USD.

Mohammed Zyad (50). 9 family members (1 MISCARRIAGE). 5.6k out of 40k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Souad Al-Kurdi (51). 5 family members (1 DIABETIC W/O INSULIN, CRITICAL, 1 INJURY). 3.7k out of 50k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Mahdy Zourob (52). 1 individual. 622 out of 20k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Ahmed Alboji (53). 5 family members. 78.4k out of 100k USD. (TIME SENSITIVE)

Sama Lulu (54). 7 family members. 5.4k out of 80k USD. LOW ON FUNDS. (CAUTION: PHOTO OF INJURED CHILD IN GFM)

Fadel Moghrabi (55). 4 family members. 33.3k out of 40k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Qosai Hani (56). 2(+?) family members. 28.2k out of 40k USD.

Khaled Khraizim (57). 14 family members. 32.6k out of 100k €.

Ahmed Raida (58). 3 family members (1 INJURED, NEEDS TREATMENT). COMPLETED ✅

Rozan family (59). 6 family members. 3.6k out of 38k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Samah Oudh (60). 5 family members. 30k out of 35k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Qasim Al-Kafarneh (alternatively: gfm) (61). 33 family members. 1st one, 5.7k out of 80k AUD. 2nd one 86k out of 94k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Mahmoud Qassas (62). 42 family members. 6.9k out of 200k CAD. (ONE CHRONICALLY ILL, NEEDS TREATMENT)

Hussam Ramadan (63). 14 family members. 14.8k out of 148k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Sana'a & Sujood (64). 8 family members. 8.8k out of 50k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Yousef Mounir (65). 5 family members. 65 out of 50k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Muhammad Mounir (66). 4 family members. 1.1k out of 45k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Hamdi Hijazi (67). 5 family members (1 NEWBORN, 1 MATERNITY RECOVERY) 889 out of 25k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Maram Ahmed (68). 5 family members. 338 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Dr. Alaa Raed (69). 8 family members. 6k out of 40k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Fadi & Shahed Sharif (70). 11 family members (1 INFANT). 265 out of 62.5k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Suheir Hojok (71). 10 family members (1 INJURED, PRONE TO STROKE, NEEDS IMMEDIATE EVACUATION). 16.3k out of 70k AUD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Haitham Gibreel (72). 7 family members (1 CHRONICALLY ILL). 340 out of 50k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Hatem H. Rawagh (73). 5+ family members. 8k out of 40k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Ze (74). 3 family members. 4k out of 34k USD.

Hani Al-Hajjar (75). 10 family members. 1.7k out of 50k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Abdelrahman Abu Shaaban (76). 16+ family members. 3.3k out of 70k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Help Little Yusuf (77). 8 family members (1 CHRONICALLY ILL, NEEDS TREATMENT). 0 out of 85k €. NO FUNDS AT ALL!!

Alia's family (78). 10 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Jehad Ahmad (79). 8 family members. 290 out of 40k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Muhammad Al-Kurdi (80). 4+ family members. NO FUNDS AT ALL!!

Yousef Abo Zaid (81). 8+ family members. 501 out of 50k BP.EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Ruba & Mohammad (82). 2+ family members. LOW ON FUNDS.

Ahmed Zidan (83). 3+ family members. 6.7k out of 30k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Wisam Mahdi (84). 25 family members. 9.3k out of 10k BP. NEARLY COMPLETE: 630 BP LEFT. (TIME SENSITIVE: ILLNESS)

Nael Helles (85). 8 family members. 1.5k out of 50k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Alia's family (86). 7 family members. 1.3k out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Hala's family (87). 3 family members. 2k out of 50k. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Mohammed Al Shaer (88). 5 family members. 692 out of 50k BP. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Sahar El Tibi (89). 3 family members. 548 out of 30k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Amal & Ruba (90). 3+ family members (1 CRITICAL CONDITION , NEEDS TREATMENT). 1.7k out of 50k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Mahmoud Al Tibi (91). 15 family members (4 NEED TREATMENT). 1.8k out of 60k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Abdullah Haniyah (92). 8 family members (1 PREGNANT). 355 out of 47k USD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Heba Zaqout (93). 2 family members. 1k out of 15k needed. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Mohammed Nasri (94). 5 family members. 7k out of 50k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Alaa & Belaal (95). 2+ family members. 47 out of 15k $. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Ahmad Turk (96). 7 family members + 1 pet. 1.5k out of 70k €. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Mahmoud's family (97). 7 family members. 4.6k out of 35k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Ottawa4Palestine’s vetted fundraiser spreadsheet (76 different families with listed fundraisers)

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cashier: ok that'll be $20

me (visibly sweating): ah, yes, of course! a perfectly reasonable price for a grilled cheese and a small smoothie! that was exactly the price i expected you to say when i ordered a single grilled cheese and a smoothie and my vision is NOT getting blurry as we speak! i am a perfectly normal temperature and my speech patterns are natural and even because this is the countenance of an individual who expected to pay 20 american dollars for a single grilled cheese and a smoothie!

cashier: where's all that blood coming from

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Amazon illegally interferes with an historic UK warehouse election

I'm in to TARTU, ESTONIA! Overcoming the Enshittocene (Monday, May 8, 6PM, Prima Vista Literary Festival keynote, University of Tartu Library, Struwe 1). AI, copyright and creative workers' labor rights (May 10, 8AM: Science Fiction Research Association talk, Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures building, Lossi 3, lobby). A talk for hackers on seizing the means of computation (May 10, 3PM, University of Tartu Delta Centre, Narva 18, room 1037).

Amazon is very good at everything it does, including being very bad at the things it doesn't want to do. Take signing up for Prime: nothing could be simpler. The company has built a greased slide from Prime-curiosity to Prime-confirmed that is the envy of every UX designer.

But unsubscribing from Prime? That's a fucking nightmare. Somehow the company that can easily figure out how to sign up for a service is totally baffled when it comes to making it just as easy to leave. Now, there's two possibilities here: either Amazon's UX competence is a kind of erratic freak tide that sweeps in at unpredictable intervals and hits these unbelievable high-water marks, or the company just doesn't want to let you leave.

To investigate this question, let's consider a parallel: Black Flag's Roach Motel. This is an icon of American design, a little brown cardboard box that is saturated in irresistibly delicious (to cockroaches, at least) pheromones. These powerful scents make it admirably easy for all the roaches in your home to locate your Roach Motel and enter it.

But the interior of the Roach Motel is also coated in a sticky glue. Once roaches enter the motel, their legs and bodies brush up against this glue and become hopeless mired in it. A roach can't leave – not without tearing off its own legs.

It's possible that Black Flag made a mistake here. Maybe they wanted to make it just as easy for a roach to leave as it is to enter. If that seems improbable to you, well, you're right. We don't even have to speculate, we can just refer to Black Flag's slogan for Roach Motel: "Roaches check in, but they don't check out."

It's intentional, and we know that because they told us so.

Back to Amazon and Prime. Was it some oversight that cause the company make it so marvelously painless to sign up for Prime, but such a titanic pain in the ass to leave? Again, no speculation is required, because Amazon's executives exchanged a mountain of internal memos in which this is identified as a deliberate strategy, by which they deliberately chose to trick people into signing up for Prime and then hid the means of leaving Prime. Prime is a Roach Motel: users check in, but they don't check out:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/03/big-tech-cant-stop-telling-on-itself/

When it benefits Amazon, they are obsessive – "relentless" (Bezos's original for the company) – about user friendliness. They value ease of use so highly that they even patented "one click checkout" – the incredibly obvious idea that a company that stores your shipping address and credit card could let you buy something with a single click:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-Click#Patent

But when it benefits Amazon to place obstacles in our way, they are even more relentless in inventing new forms of fuckery, spiteful little landmines they strew in our path. Just look at how Amazon deals with unionization efforts in its warehouses.

Amazon's relentless union-busting spans a wide diversity of tactics. On the one hand, they cook up media narratives to smear organizers, invoking racist dog-whistles to discredit workers who want a better deal:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/02/amazon-chris-smalls-smart-articulate-leaked-memo

On the other hand, they collude with federal agencies to make workers afraid that their secret ballots will be visible to their bosses, exposing them to retaliation:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/amazon-violated-labor-law-alabama-union-election-labor-official-finds-rcna1582

They hold Cultural Revolution-style forced indoctrination meetings where they illegally threaten workers with punishment for voting in favor of their union:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/business/economy/amazon-union-staten-island-nlrb.html

And they fire Amazon tech workers who express solidarity with warehouse workers:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-fires-tech-employees-workers-criticism-warehouse-climate-policies/

But all this is high-touch, labor-intensive fuckery. Amazon, as we know, loves automation, and so it automates much of its union-busting: for example, it created an employee chat app that refused to deliver any message containing words like "fairness" or "grievance":

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/05/doubleplusrelentless/#quackspeak

Amazon also invents implausible corporate fictions that allow it to terminate entire sections of its workforce for trying to unionize, by maintaining the tormented pretense that these workers, who wear Amazon uniforms, drive Amazon trucks, deliver Amazon packages, and are tracked by Amazon down to the movements of their eyeballs, are, in fact, not Amazon employees:

https://www.wired.com/story/his-drivers-unionized-then-amazon-tried-to-terminate-his-contract/

These workers have plenty of cause to want to unionize. Amazon warehouses are sources of grueling torment. Take "megacycling," a ten-hour shift that runs from 1:20AM to 11:50AM that workers are plunged into without warning or the right to refuse. This isn't just a night shift – it's a night shift that makes it impossible to care for your children or maintain any kind of normal life.

Then there's Jeff Bezos's war on his workers' kidneys. Amazon warehouse workers and drivers notoriously have to pee in bottles, because they are monitored by algorithms that dock their pay for taking bathroom breaks. The road to Amazon's warehouse in Coventry, England is littered with sealed bottles of driver piss, defenestrated by drivers before they reach the depot inspection site.

There's so much piss on the side of the Coventry road that the prankster Oobah Butler was able to collect it, decant it into bottles, and market it on Amazon as an energy beverage called "Bitter Lemon Release Energy," where it briefly became Amazon's bestselling energy drink:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/20/release-energy/#the-bitterest-lemon

(Butler promises that he didn't actually ship any bottled piss to people who weren't in on the gag – but let's just pause here and note how weird it is that a guy who hates our kidneys as much as Jeff Bezos built and flies a penis-shaped rocket.)

Butler also secretly joined the surge of 1,000 workers that Amazon hired for the Coventry warehouse in advance of a union vote, with the hope of diluting the yes side of that vote and forestall the union. Amazon displayed more of its famously selective competence here, spotting Butler and firing him in short order, while totally failing to notice that he was marketing bottles of driver piss as a bitter lemon drink on Amazon's retail platform.

After a long fight, Amazon's Coventry workers are finally getting their union vote, thanks to the GMB union's hard fought battle at the Central Arbitration Committee:

https://www.foxglove.org.uk/2024/04/26/amazon-warehouse-workers-in-coventry-will-vote-on-trade-union-recognition/

And right on schedule, Amazon has once again discovered its incredible facility for ease-of-use. The company has blanketed its shop floor with radioactively illegal "one click to quit the union" QR codes. When a worker aims their phones at the code and clicks the link, the system auto-generates a letter resigning the worker from their union.

As noted, this is totally illegal. English law bans employers from "making an offer to an employee for the sole or main purpose of inducing workers not to be members of an independent trade union, take part in its activities, or make use of its services."

Now, legal or not, this may strike you as a benign intervention on Amazon's part. Why shouldn't it be easy for workers to choose how they are represented in their workplaces? But the one-click system is only half of Amazon's illegal union-busting: the other half is delivered by its managers, who have cornered workers on the shop floor and ordered them to quit their union, threatening them with workplace retaliation if they don't.

This is in addition to more forced "captive audience" meetings where workers are bombarded with lies about what life in an union shop is like.

Again, the contrast couldn't be more stark. If you want to quit a union, Amazon makes this as easy as joining Prime. But if you want to join a union, Amazon makes that even harder than quitting Prime. Amazon has the same attitude to its workers and its customers: they see us all as a resource to be extracted, and have no qualms about tricking or even intimidating us into doing what's best for Amazon, at the expense of our own interests.

The campaigning law-firm Foxglove is representing five of Amazon's Coventry workers. They're doing the lord's work:

https://www.foxglove.org.uk/2024/05/02/legal-challenge-to-amazon-uks-new-one-click-to-quit-the-union-tool/

All this highlights the increasing divergence between the UK and the US when it comes to labor rights. Under the Biden Administration, @NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo has promulgated a rule that grants a union automatic recognition if the boss does anything to interfere with a union election:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

In other words, if Amazon tries these tactics in the USA now, their union will be immediately recognized. Abruzzo has installed an ultra-sensitive tilt-sensor in America's union elections, and if Bezos or his class allies so much as sneeze in the direction of their workers' democratic rights, they automatically lose.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/06/one-click-to-quit-the-union/#foxglove

Image: Isabela.Zanella (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ballot-box-2.jpg

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