The Sign You’ve Been Looking For

Well, what do you know? Amazon workers have unionized. (That’s a gift link, BTW, courtesy of my good pal, Jeff Bezos and me.)

The article states as follows:

The unorthodox but stunningly successful unionization campaign by Amazon employees in New York was propelled by a burst of new energy by many worker groups, which have emerged from the coronavirus pandemic with new tactics and edge.

Employees at a number of other Amazon warehouses are expected to try to replicate the success notched Friday by workers at a Staten Island facility. Already, a smaller warehouse in Staten Island is scheduled to vote at the end of the month, and an election in Bessemer, Ala., is pending based on contested ballots.

Unsurprisingly, these efforts haven’t been welcomed by Amazon with open arms.

Amazon fought to beat back the unionization effort, and the victory against one of the country’s largest private employers could provide a new playbook for workers that are trying to reverse a historic trend away from union rights. And while Amazon confronts this new reality, other companies are dealing with restless workers, including railroad engineers, coal miners, baristas, nurses and teachers.

Yes, indeed. Restless workers. I should know about that, having done my share of work for various entities on different occasions.

In a statement Friday, Amazon said that it may file objections to the outcome and that it was disappointed in the results “because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees.”

Oh, sure. A “direct relationship” would be ideal. But how direct is your relationship with each and every employee? And are you always acting in the best interests of anyone other than you?

And then, there’s this:

“You can only push workers so far before they stand up and fight back,” he said. “That’s what’s happening at Warrior Met, and that’s also what’s happening at Amazon.”

And there’s this:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said the vote would energize pro-union sentiment at Amazon and elsewhere.

“In the short term there will probably be more organizing efforts at Amazon facilities throughout the country,” Sanders told The Post. “And more broadly it shows that working people are disgusted with the reality that corporate profits are soaring, and the billionaire classes are getting much richer, while working people struggle to meet their basic needs.”

I wonder how many indie authors are scrambling to 1) keep writing and publishing as fast as fucking possible; 2) paying through the nose for promotions, courses, advertising, and various membership fees; and/or 3) pursuing so many side gigs, income streams, and potentially career and/or life-changing decisions, that they might at some point consider just saying “enough already”?

What’s it going to take for indie authors to create the equivalent of this?

Is that the answer to the Amazon problem? The company has not only fully dominated publishing and likely wishes to do the same in Hollywood or just everywhere. Or should we wait for someone to actually take action in response to this?

Well, I say “Fuck it. Whatever.”

PS: You know, not once in that article did they mention that The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, former CEO and now executive chairman of Amazon.

Oh, and please, if you’re still around Gene Weingarten, feel free to leave me another snarky comment if I got THAT wrong, too! 🙂

PPS: And here are three books I either already have or likely will add to my ever-growing TBR mountain pile.

PPPS: If you want to be indie, be indie! 🙂

Originally published at http://randomandsundrythings.wordpress.com on April 4, 2022.