Last night TV , BBC 3 9pm, Is this what an Amazon warehouse like to work in ???

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, as above, despite being a very good 1 hour TV drama has the truth finally shown how these big warehouses work and how employees are actually treated in their place of work by certain company we all know , yet millions in UK use every day, except me 🤔 , please watch and comment ??

[ditchman]

i knew folk who worked in the amazon days when it was just books ...and they were under serious pressure ...even then...

didnt watch it ...watched "the making of a samuri sword " by an old family buisness......they took 4 months to polish it to get the Hamoun right...

[HantsRob]

BBC iPlayer - Life and Death in the Warehouse

 

I am guessing not that one as that was a month or so ago? Or could be a repeat? Regardless I may give it a watch

[oldypigeonpopper]

7 minutes ago, HantsRob said:

BBC iPlayer - Life and Death in the Warehouse

 

I am guessing not that one as that was a month or so ago? Or could be a repeat? Regardless I may give it a watch

That's the one 👍

[Lloyd90]

Some of the fittest and sportiest lads I know worker in an Amazon warehouse for a bit and said he was sprinting between isles and flat out, said it was totally unmanageable and didn’t last long. 
 

They also used to have massive numbers of industrial injuries by us in Swansea as everything being rushed so much. 

[oldypigeonpopper]

1 hour ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, as above, despite being a very good 1 hour TV drama has the truth finally shown how these big warehouses work and how employees are actually treated in their place of work by certain company we all know , yet millions in UK use every day, except me 🤔 , please watch and comment ??

Hello, the part where the NDA was shown is interesting ?? i had the same scenario many years ago

[Yellow Bear]

Whilst a lot of that shown is probably true, being a BBC or made for BBC production, one has to remember the BBC anti big/private  business bias and know they are trying to show the worst possible situation.

[humperdingle]

It’s funny how nobody was interested during the lockdowns, when most folk were ordering on t’internet left, right and centre…

[Shambam1962]

I worked in Amazon Swansea a few years back after the Hydraulic company I worked for went into liquidation after20 plus years service.

I started working there 2 weeks before Christmas on permanent night shifts and supposedly 10 hour shifts, but after the 1st night it was altered to 12 hour shifts.

 I was picking items for orders over 3 floors and each item had to be picked between a 3 minute time slot over a considerable distance, or failing this you would have aggro from the leading hand and later a warning.

I was walking on average 15 miles a night picking and it was the hottest place I worked.

 I was fit and healthy then and lost considerable weight and my feet was shot to pieces and had blisters on blisters.

 I lasted 6 weeks until my redundancy pay arrived and packed in the job immediately.

I knew lads who would turn up for work at 5:30 am after driving a considerable distance and parking the car, and walking to the security gate to enter with your key card and denied access.

When then pushing the help button to gain access, only to be told your contract has terminated by the security guard.

 I can honestly say it’s the worst place I have ever worked in 40 years  and I only worked there for 6 weeks.

[manthing]

Fitted a bathroom for a young couple a few years ago, she was a carer or nhs and he was on permanent night shifts as a charge hand or foreperson at an amazon distribution hub. He'd done the running around stuff and he loved it, they had a nice lifestyle. 

There will be those that hate it and those that like it, like most jobs.

[Bigbob]

1. That was my sons first job threw a agency he hated it from the minute he left the house till he got back they get nearly strippped at the door of the warehouse  belt shoes off and put in a tray to go threw a metal detector  to stop stealing  they where pushed all the time from picking stuff to pack , then they could be taken of there station to stack parcels in a lorry to be told thats time they have to make up now . An American company with all there ideas 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Thanks for replies, it will be interesting to see if Amazon Coventry accept the workers Union rights 🤔

[Vince Green]

They are not alone in their working practices. Workers at other big mail order warehouses have told similar stories.

[12gauge82]

It goes to show the state of the jobs market when people are prepared to except those working conditions.

[Vince Green]

3 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

It goes to show the state of the jobs market when people are prepared to except those working conditions.

The thing was, there was always a big pool of Eastern Europeans who were more than happy to accept those conditions for a couple of years then take the money home and buy a house or whatever.  Set for life.

The same was true for a lot of other industries too. But it was the British workers who were the losers in the long run.

It's one of the reasons I was such a strong supporter of Brexit. I could see what was happening

No long term prospects, no security, treated like dirt

 

[enfieldspares]

16 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

The thing was, there was always a big pool of Eastern Europeans who were more than happy to accept those conditions for a couple of years then take the money home and buy a house or whatever.

When my work in France collapsed with covid I went to work via an agency at the DHL air cargo facility at East Midlands Airport. It was pot luck if you got a "cushy" job or one that was hard work. I got maintenance that meant you were sat down for ten hours "fire brigading" blockages in the conveyor system. if none happened you sat on a chair and looked at the internet on your mobile 'phone. If blockages did happen (and they did so like buses...none for half an hour then all together one after the other) you were up ladders climbing onto or over conveyor belts.

If you were OTOH on "offloads" you were on your feet for nine hours handballing package after package from cargo containers onto one single conveyor belt. Not pleasant at all except you could switch your brain off and chat with colleagues each side as much as you wanted as long as the work was getting done. However the worst part as others say is that as an agency worker you could be told to come in two hours late or go home two hours early as the work was not there. The pay was good £15 an hour plus a Saturday bonus of £40 and a Sunday bonus of £60. 

But being sent home early wasn't. So I ended with them. Saying bluntly "I come here to earn money. I don't come here to be told to come on late or get sent home early." This is the sort of working practices reminiscent of the 1920s and 1930s in docklands. Not for me. So it was goodbye. Not treated like dirt but treated without thought as when the Ukraine war started and the Russian carrier planes where banned this unilateral shorting of your hours was the normal.

Edited April 27, 2023 by enfieldspares

[oowee]

We need these industries.  They will grow more and more as we buy on line. Having set up several of these in the UK and worked on setting up the recruitment it's a job for those with skill and graft. The longer you stick it the faster, slicker and fitter you become. At the end of it the companies need workers so there has to be a compromise between outputs and outcomes. Those that get it earn well. Those that don't are out. 

10 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

The thing was, there was always a big pool of Eastern Europeans who were more than happy to accept those conditions for a couple of years then take the money home and buy a house or whatever.  Set for life.

The same was true for a lot of other industries too. But it was the British workers who were the losers in the long run.

It's one of the reasons I was such a strong supporter of Brexit. I could see what was happening

No long term prospects, no security, treated like dirt

 

🤣 Better at home on benefits no doubt. You could see what was happening? What people had job's that they had to graft for? These warehouses need a labour supply, if it is not available we all pay more for services. It's time some Brits got off their ***** and got out to work. It's laughable that the European worker is considered so much better than the average Brit. I don't believe it to be the case. Pampering to the stay at home lifestyle helps no one and such an attitude simply encourages it. 

[12gauge82]

32 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

The thing was, there was always a big pool of Eastern Europeans who were more than happy to accept those conditions for a couple of years then take the money home and buy a house or whatever.  Set for life.

The same was true for a lot of other industries too. But it was the British workers who were the losers in the long run.

It's one of the reasons I was such a strong supporter of Brexit. I could see what was happening

No long term prospects, no security, treated like dirt

 

Very true 👍

14 minutes ago, oowee said:

We need these industries.  They will grow more and more as we buy on line. Having set up several of these in the UK and worked on setting up the recruitment it's a job for those with skill and graft. The longer you stick it the faster, slicker and fitter you become. At the end of it the companies need workers so there has to be a compromise between outputs and outcomes. Those that get it earn well. Those that don't are out. 

🤣 Better at home on benefits no doubt. You could see what was happening? What people had job's that they had to graft for? These warehouses need a labour supply, if it is not available we all pay more for services. It's time some Brits got off their ***** and got out to work. It's laughable that the European worker is considered so much better than the average Brit. I don't believe it to be the case. Pampering to the stay at home lifestyle helps no one and such an attitude simply encourages it. 

The cheap European labour is not better. It's simply that when they send uk wages back to their much lower paid country, it is worth alot more. 

Its not about being lazy, it's about securing a fair days pay and conditions, for a fair days work.

[oowee]

2 minutes ago, 12gauge82 said:

Very true 👍

The cheap European labour is not better. It's simply that when they send uk wages back to their much lower paid country, it is worth alot more. 

Its not about being lazy, it's about securing a fair days pay and conditions, for a fair days work.

So get the Brits out working. There is no way on earth that leaving the EU has a hope in hell of making conditions better for Brit workers. Exactly the opposite. If you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, turning the oven off is not an option. 

[12gauge82]

2 hours ago, oowee said:

So get the Brits out working. There is no way on earth that leaving the EU has a hope in hell of making conditions better for Brit workers. Exactly the opposite. If you cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, turning the oven off is not an option. 

I couldn't agree more, get the bits out working, cancel their benefits and make them work 👌

[Scully]

American work ethic at play? 
My OH’s nephew was an asset manager for Deloittes in Switzerland, and although their work ethic is very good it is based on employees being able to work extremely flexibly. There is much down time too with all manner of expensive treats such as weekend breaks skiing etc. 
He told me not many people choose to work for or in their New York office as the work ethic can destroy you over a sustained period.
His mother does the same job in Leeds, and she says it is a very laid back office for this very reason; they don’t want their best assets ‘burnt out’. 
 

[12gauge82]

1 hour ago, chilly1981 said:

Pick your branch take your chance as we used to say 

no one is forcing people to work there  everyone now a days knows what there warehouses are like and what’s expected of them so it shouldn’t be a shock

and as some one pointed out once you get work for and body has adjusted it becomes a lot easier. 
 

as for the mental detectors going in. That’s because especially during covid they had massive problem with stealing I know lads that were brought on as extra security for it 

 

I'm looking at it from a wider angle than that. If the current employment system worked correctly, jobs like this shouldnt exist as everyone would leave and go to a company that treats them properly. The problem is, there clearly aren't enough decent jobs, or there are too many people prepared to work for that pay and conditions due to sending money back to other countries, lowering the standards for British workers, I'd guess it's a combination.

[oldypigeonpopper]

11 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

Very true 👍

The cheap European labour is not better. It's simply that when they send uk wages back to their much lower paid country, it is worth alot more. 

Its not about being lazy, it's about securing a fair days pay and conditions, for a fair days work.

Well said 👍

[discobob]

1 hour ago, 12gauge82 said:

I'm looking at it from a wider angle than that. If the current employment system worked correctly, jobs like this shouldnt exist as everyone would leave and go to a company that treats them properly. The problem is, there clearly aren't enough decent jobs, or there are too many people prepared to work for that pay and conditions due to sending money back to other countries, lowering the standards for British workers, I'd guess it's a combination.

The trouble is that the "minimum wage" has created a bottom on the market that nobody (company) has to go above really - creating an artificial bottom. The trouble with a lot of europeans that are working here they are living in (and hotbedding) HMO's - not far from here Garden Sheds have been found accommodating quite a number of people. These are paying pittence, claiming child benefit (or where - not sure if that has been stopped) and sending that money back to their country and therefore raising their standard of living while removing that money from the UK economy..... 

[oowee]

7 hours ago, discobob said:

The trouble is that the "minimum wage" has created a bottom on the market that nobody (company) has to go above really - creating an artificial bottom. The trouble with a lot of europeans that are working here they are living in (and hotbedding) HMO's - not far from here Garden Sheds have been found accommodating quite a number of people. These are paying pittence, claiming child benefit (or where - not sure if that has been stopped) and sending that money back to their country and therefore raising their standard of living while removing that money from the UK economy..... 

£15 an hour in Amazon warehouse. 

You paint a picture of enterprising Europeans. Why are Brits unable to do the same? We did in the 70's going to Germany and Spain for work. What's changed when the jobs are on the doorstep? Nothing is the answer. A large proportion of workers will be Brits. 

The only difference is Europeans, any one else really m, provides an excuse for brits to hide behind. Something to blame for our own inadequacy and failings. 

The world belongs to the brave that get out and carve there own future. The moaning Minnie's will forever be just that.