Amazon's complex relationship with activists

On the pages of VICE, a report that casts a shadow on the treatment reserved by Amazon for its employees employed in warehouses and warehouses, also in Europe, a few days before Black Friday. There is talk of dozens of documents leaked by the company's Global Security Operations Center in reference to activities aimed at monitoring trade unions as well as those fighting for environmental protection and social justice.

The VICE report on the relationship between Amazon and its employees

Some contain information on the activity of pages and groups on social networks. Other details about meetings and appointments organized by workers outside their employment with a lot of time, place of the meeting, number of participants and descriptions such as "strike" or "distribution of flyers". There are analyzes on the degree of dissatisfaction of employees with the condition of the buildings, with excessive workloads and a history of thefts. The whole is defined by the source of the publication as a complex surveillance apparatus.

A question extended not only to the old continent, but also to the United States, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and India, which between other things in May led to the resignation of Tim Bray, Senior Engineer and Vice President with the e-commerce giant since 2014, who on the occasion spoke of a "vein of toxicity that runs through the corporate culture".

It examined the interactions of those who joined Greenpeace, the Fridays For Future movement and the French Yellow Vests. The stated goal of one of the documents is to "highlight the potential risks and dangers that could impact Amazon's operations, in order to meet customer expectations". Replication is entrusted to spokesperson Lisa Levandowski.

Like any other responsible company, we maintain a level of security within our operations to help our employees, buildings and warehouses stay safe. This includes having an internal investigation team that works with law enforcement as permitted. Everything we do is in line with local laws and conducted with the full knowledge and support of local authorities. Any attempt to sensationalize these activities or to suggest that we do something unusual or wrong is irresponsible and incorrect.

The same spokesperson denied Amazon's hiring of "field agents" with this specific assignment. , reiterating the groundlessness of the allegations that the employee monitoring practice is being extended to the whole world.

The reference is to a November 2019 report according to which the group has recruited Pinkerton "spies" to be allocated to the Polish warehouse in Wroclaw (WRO1) to gather information about anomalies in the process of recruiting new collaborators.

For those who are not aware, Pinkerton is a US investigation agency founded in 1850, today passed under the control of the Swedish Securitas AB, active between the end of the last century and the beginning of the current one in operations that targeted overseas trade unions, especially all in the steel sector, sometimes using intimidating methods to discourage worker protests. The partnership with the company was confirmed by Levandowski.

We have partnerships with specialized companies for many different reasons. In Pinkerton's case to ensure safety in high value shipments. We do not use our partners to collect information about who works in warehouses. All activities are carried out in full compliance with local laws and conducted with the full knowledge and support of local authorities.

Of the strikes and demonstrations of dissent that have been staged in the last period at the logistics centers of Amazon we have also written several times on these pages. In one case, the protests also affected the Italian structure of Castel San Giovanni for reasons related to the management of the health crisis after the coronavirus arrived in our country. Quite similar events have occurred in Germany, France and the United States.

Source: VICE