#uk amazon

[gwydionmisha]

#UK Amazon #Coventry #Strike #Amazon #News

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Amazon's bestselling "bitter lemon" energy drink was bottled delivery driver piss

Today (Oct 20), I'm in Charleston, WV at Charleston's Taylor Books from 12h-14h.

For a brief time this year, the bestselling "bitter lemon drink" on Amazon was "Release Energy," which consisted of the harvested urine of Amazon delivery drivers, rebottled for sale by Catfish UK prankster Oobah Butler in a stunt for a new Channel 4 doc, "The Great Amazon Heist":

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-great-amazon-heist

Collecting driver piss is surprisingly easy. Amazon, you see, puts its drivers on a quota that makes it impossible for them to drive safely, park conscientiously, or, indeed, fulfill their basic human biological needs. Amazon has long waged war on its employees' kidneys, marking down warehouse workers for "time off task" when they visit the toilets.

As tales of drivers pissing – and shitting! – in their vans multiplied, Amazon took decisive action. The company enacted a strict zero tolerance policy for drivers returning to the depot with bottles of piss in their vans.

That's where Butler comes in: the roads leading to Amazon delivery depots are lined with bottles of piss thrown out of delivery vans by drivers who don't want to lose their jobs, which made harvesting the raw material for "Release Energy" a straightforward matter.

Butler was worried that he wouldn't be able to list his product on Amazon because he didn't have the requisite "food and drinks licensing" certificates, so he listed his drink in Amazon's refillable pump dispenser category. But Amazon's systems detected the mismatch and automatically shifted the product into the drinks section.

Butler enlisted some confederates to place orders for his drink, and it quickly rocketed to the top of Amazon's listings for the category, which led to Amazon's recommendation engine pushing the item on people who weren't in on the gag. When these orders came in, Butler pulled the plug, but not before an Amazon rep telephoned him to pitch him turning packaging, shipping and fulfillment over to Amazon:

https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-let-its-drivers-urine-be-sold-as-an-energy-drink/

The Release Energy prank was just one stunt Butler pulled for his doc; he also went undercover at an Amazon warehouse, during a period when Amazon hired an extra 1,000 workers for its warehouses in Coventry, UK, in a successful bid to dilute pro-union sentiment in his workforce in advance of a key union vote:

https://jacobin.com/2023/10/the-great-amazon-heist-oobah-butler-review

Butler's stint as an Amazon warehouse worker only lasted a couple of days, ending when Amazon recognized him and fired him.

The contrast between Amazon's ability to detect an undercover reporter and its inability to spot bottles of piss being marketed as bitter lemon energy drink says it all, really. Corporations like Amazon hire vast armies of "threat intelligence" creeps who LARP at being CIA superspies, subjecting employees and activists to intense and often illegal surveillance.

But while Amazon's defensive might is laser-focused on the threat of labor organizers and documentarians, the company can't figure out that one of its bestselling products is bottles of its tormented drivers' own urine.

In the USA, the FTC is suing Amazon for its monopolistic tactics, arguing that the company has found ways to raise prices and reduce quality by trapping manufacturers and sellers with its logistics operation, taking $0.45-$0.51 out of every dollar they earn and forcing them to raise prices at all retailers:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/25/greedflation/#commissar-bezos

The Release Energy stunt shows where Amazon's priorities are. Not only did Release Energy get listed on Amazon without any quality checks, the company actually nudged it into a category where it was more likely to be consumed by a person. The only notice the company took of Release Energy was in its logistics and manufacturing department – the part of the business that extracts the monopoly rents at issue in the FTC case – which tracked Butler down in order to sell him these services.

The drivers whose piss Butler collected don't work directly for Amazon, they work for a Delivery Service Partner. These DSPs are victims of a pyramid scheme that Amazon set up. DSP operators lease vans and pay to have them skinned in Amazon livery and studded with Amazon sensors. They take out long-term leases on depots, and hire drivers who dress in Amazon uniforms. Their drivers are minutely monitored by Amazon, down to the movements of their eyeballs.

But none of this is "Amazon" – it's all run by an "entrepreneur," whom Amazon can cut loose without notice, leaving them with unfairly terminated employees, outstanding workers' comp claims, a fleet of Amazon-skinned vehicles and unbreakable facilities leases:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/17/revenge-of-the-chickenized-reverse-centaurs/

Speaking to Wired, Amazon denied that it forces its drivers to piss in bottles, but Butler clearly catches a DSP dispatcher telling drivers "If you pee in a bottle and leave it [in the vehicle], you will get a point for that" – that is, the part you get punished for isn't the peeing, it's the leaving.

Amazon's defense against the FTC is that it spares no effort to keep its marketplace safe. As Amazon spokesperson James Drummond says, they use "industry-leading tools to prevent genuinely unsafe products being listed." But the only industry-leading tools in evidence are tools to bust unions and screw suppliers.

In her landmark Yale Law Review paper, "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox," FTC Chair Lina Khan makes a brilliant argument that Amazon's alleged benefits to "consumers" are temporary at best, illusory at worst:

https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox

In Butler's documentary, Khan's hypothesis is thoroughly validated: here's a company extracting hundreds of billions from merchants who raise prices to compensate, and those monopoly rents are "invested" in union-busting and countermeasures against investigative journalists, while the tools to keep you from accidentally getting a bottle of piss in the mail are laughably primitive.

Truly, Amazon is the apex predator of the platform era:

https://pluralistic.net/ApexPredator

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/2023/10/20/release-energy/#the-bitterest-lemon

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

#pluralistic #release energy #channel 4 #amazon #corporate intelligence #labor #unions #amazon labor union #the great Amazon heist #catfish uk #oobah butler #delivery service partner

[bienmoreau]

“What you hold onto is less important than the act of holding on itself. It’s so easy to get lost in ourselves and this world. Sometimes you need to find your way back one tiny miracle at a time.” - The Sunshine Court

WISHING THE HAPPIEST OF BOOK BIRTHDAYS TO @korakos! YOU DID IT AND ITS BLOODY BRILLIANT!

Please please excuse the disgusting things my iPad camera has done to this photo. This is the first time in years I’ve done something like this fully traditional and it has stretched so many rusty parts of my brain but I’m SO GLAD I got this done in time for release day! This book is WONDERFUL and I’m so happy it’s now out in the world!

#jean moreau #the sunshine court #nora sakavic #all for the game #tsc spoilers #like barely but we thought it would be worth tagging to stop people being upset #the sunshine court spoilers #mine #my art #technically this is meant to be released tomorrow but it’s up on Amazon already so YAY! TIME TO CELEBRATE!! #I hate how little justice these photos do to this painting 😭😭😭😭 #I’m gonna have to repost this once I’m back in the uk and can get good photos or scan it or something #but I HAD to do something for my boy for this momentous occasion!

[satans-knitwear]

Getting ready for you is a rather enjoyable process ✨

Treat me ~ Tip me

#Treat (lingerie wishlist) me (amazon wishlists) ~ Tip (pypl) me (cshpp) #Pretty lingerie is my lifeline #My gif to you #Alt pinup #Pinup girl #Stockings #Stockings and suspenders #Underbust corset #Corsetry #Lace corset #Pretty lingerie #Jewelled lingerie #Lace lingerie set #bi girl #uk girl #cheeky #wlw #satans knitwear #Blue lingerie set

[chrliekclly]

#charden #chardennis #charlie kelly #dennis reynolds #iasip #always sunny #this is a draft from 2016 LMFAO #im trying to clear them out ;o; #the gang gets stranded in the woods #byron #screencap #shitpost #I MISS YOU NETFLIX CAPTIONS I MISS YOU SO FUCKING MUCH #the bEST sunny cc available....now im stuck with the TRASH that is hulu or amazon UGHHH look how much character th netflx ones hav #i HATE YOU WHY DID U TAKE SUNNY OFF #if i wanna keep taking caps i might start vpn watching uk netflix bcuz i srsly cant fukcing stand the other cc

[goblincow]

The first ever AMAZON STRIKE in the UK is one week away - and they need your support!

Respectfully asking if I can get a bunch of notes on this so I can show my phone when I go to the rally and let them see how much support they have! ✊

And here are the Amazon strike fund details to donate if you're able:

Name - GMB Midland & East Coast

Bank - Unity Trust

Sort Code - 60-83-01

A/c No - 33010410

Ref - Amazon

I'm pretty sure I know how this works:

Like to charge, reblog to cast!

Update:

Thanks everyone who has responded to show your support, here's a link to an interview with one of the GMB union officials earlier this morning after Amazon workers walked out at 00:00.

I will update again later today when I visit the picket, but as this is doing numbers here's a link to the official donation page: stick it to Amazon and show your support for the workers! Solidarity ✊

Update 2:

Some great fighting talk from union speakers willing to take on Amazon.

Strikers told me that amazon managers and bosses have been intimidating staff & taking advantage of the fact that many workers are on zero hour contracts & many are immigrants and they speak a lot of different languages, so they've been lining the hallways to watch them as they leave shifts and lying about the union by saying the union is threatening people and beating them up, all to pressure them to stay silent and be too afraid to communicate so they don't go on strike with their colleagues. But they wont win - the strike was national news, from Philip Schofield talking about Jeff Bezos only offering a 50p raise from his billions on This Morning to major news coverage throughout the day. At one point we were live on Channel 4!

I told workers and union officials that over a thousand people from tumblr who are mostly queer/trans/nonbinary/otherwise lgbtq+ wanted them to know that they support the Amazon strikers.

One striker seemed surprised by this and I got to talk to him about how lgbtq+ people are working class too, how lgbtq+ rights are working class rights, how none of us are free from exploitation until we all are, so no wonder the gay website supports you, and he seemed to really take that on board.

All the workers were grateful for everyone who showed up and thank you all for your support - this is just the start.

Fuck Jeff Bezos

#amazon strikes #amazon uk #amazon #strike solidarity #amazon union #gmb union #amazon labor union #labor unions #support the strikes #fuck jeff bezos

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Up the workers.

#uk politics #Amazon #fuck Amazon #unions #trade union #strike #industrial action #don't cross the picket line

[anominous-user]

thanks windows

#2022 had amazon uk shipping kevinsu 2024 has windows and sentihua #honkai impact #sentihua

[probablyasocialecologist]

The workers at the BHX4 warehouse in Coventry walked out on Wednesday morning demanding to be paid £15 per hour.

Private security guards hired by Amazon were present in large numbers on the picket lines at both the walk-in and drive-in entrance. Stuart Richards, a senior organiser for GMB, said: “If you’re one of the workers who walked out in the middle of your shift, or if you’re a worker stood on the picket line surrounded by security guards, that’s a huge level of intimidation.”

Also present on the picket line were a number of police vans, as well as officers patrolling.

One worker, who chose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said: “Amazon customers should know the real story behind what’s happening in warehouses around the world. Amazon is trying to promote a fake image of associates being treated well. It’s not true. We’re treated as numbers under permanent stress. We can’t afford to get sick.”

[...]

Amazon has been repeatedly criticised for the working conditions at its fulfilment centres. There have been reports of timed toilet breaks and surveillance software that ruthlessly sets impossible performance rates. After the GMB revealed that ambulances had been called out to Amazon’s warehouses 1,000 times in five years, the online retailer cracked down, instructing workers to instead call a taxi or to drive the injured person to hospital.

[...]

Amazon has so far refused to engage directly with the GMB. Since the launch of the first ballot in September, Amazon has implemented a number of anti-union measures.

#amazon #uk politics #strike #trade unions

[keirstarmerhateblog]

Amazon: announces they're gonna start showing ads on prime unless you pay £3 more a month on top of your package

*people start mass unsubscribing*

Amazon:

#uk politics #british politics #britpol #ukpol #britain #capitalism #amazon

[sherifftillman]

BRETT GOLDSTEIN as CASPER 'Last Place Hero' from Uncle (2014-2017) 2.03

#brett goldstein #brettgoldsteinedit #bgoldsteinedit #tedlassoedit #bbcedit #tvedit #tvarchive #roy kent #*mygifs #userbanana #userspacey #(i know you two love him but if anyone else wants to be tagged in brett stuff hmu!!) #my amazon fire recommended uncle to me and i was like 'yeah sure it's been a few years' #and then i was hit with nick from timewasters and nate shelley and roy kent from ted lasso in ONE SHOW #the age old meme of the uk only having 12 actors continues #also apologies for the quality apparently everything released by the bbc in 2015 was filmed on a fuckin potato and they don't remaster

[male--wife]

miscellaneous boys

#the boys #hughie campbell #homelander #shout out Amazon prime video UK for tweeting homelander langerie tweet for. some reason

[oswincoleman]

Amazon Prime UK shared some more pictures of Jenna Coleman, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ashley Benson, and Eric Balfour in Wilderness!

#jenna coleman #jenna louise coleman #oliver jackson cohen #ashley benson #eric balfour #wilderness #wilderness tv #Amazon prime #amazon prime uk

[julie-and-the-ghost-himbos]

In the era of streaming, it feels like all of these streaming companies are just throwing darts at random at a dartboard and hoping some stick instead of actually aiming for a bullseye.

What I mean by that is shows don't get a chance to find their footing because they're cancelled as the streaming companies spread their money too thin.

A great example of this is how I met your father on Hulu which just got cancelled. The first season wasn't great but they really found their footing in the second season and I think it could have been a really successful sitcom in its own right in the long run. I'm going to draw comparisons with the US Office, which was basically a carbon copy of the UK Office in its first season but then found its footing in the second season. If it was made now I have no doubt it would be cancelled after the second season and would never have been given the chance to become as popular as it did. This is what streaming companies don't understand. You have to give a few shows a chance to breathe rather than funding hundreds and then giving none of them a shot to get past two seasons.

#Disney+ #Disney plus #Netflix #hulu #hbo #hbo max #Amazon prime #streaming #streaming services #himyf #how i met your father #the office #us office #uk office

[satans-knitwear]

I can't think of a caption. Does this even need one?? 😏

Treat me ~ Tip Me ~ More of me

#Loving this combo of lingerie set and corset. The greens match wonderfully. #Dark forest green my beloved 😍 #satans knitwear #check out the full unsensored set on my free OF! (more of me) #Treat me (amazon wishlist) ~ Tip (pypl) Me (cshpp) #alt pinup #pinup girl #pretty lingerie #my gif to you #Underbust corset #harness lingerie #bi girl #cheeky #uk girl #wlw

[illustriousseu]

#amazon #amazon fashion #amazon favorites #amazon finds #amazon free gift card #amazon fresh #uk #London #Scotland #Ireland #pumpkin #fall aesthetic #fall vibes #fall 2023 #fallen london #fall autumn #fall academia #fall decor #pumpkin ambience #pumpkin aesthetic #pumpkin art #happy halloweeeeeeen #halloween #deathly hallows #halloween decorations #halloween decor hunting #halloween au #halloween disney #halloween accessories