After the mega-tax evasion, cyber-slavery. Amazon Prime on all fronts.
Slavery in the food supply chain (and the globalization of exploitation)
When it comes to slavery in the food supply chain our thoughts turn to developing countries. At the palm oil production and to fishing in Southeast Asia, cocoa crops in West Africa and to carnauba wax in the Northeast of Brazil (what later ends up in Haribo candies).
Slavery in Europe reconnects to the dusty and sunny fields of the South, in Italy and Spain, where migrants are exploited for the collection of fruit and vegetables. And the only ones to stem the havoc, with rare exceptions, are the most responsible operators, in industry and in the large-scale retail trade. Those that define and apply specific protocols to guarantee the sustainability of the supply chain. Like Coop Italia, which since 1998 has adopted the SA 8000 standard.
Amazon, cyber-slavery
The young Alan Selby, journalist and marathon runner, worked undercover at Amazon's newest warehouse in Tilbury in Essex, England. Five weeks in the centrifuge of immediate shipments. 'Click to receive now', and the cyber-slave like a hamster runs to get the goods to hesitate in a matter of seconds. (1)
The system checks and times, parcel handling times such as withdrawals. And the cyber-slaves must always remain on guard, to attention, never sit down for a moment, even if the order does not go off. Under grueling shifts, 55 hours these days, grinding kilometers under the artificial lights of the warehouses illuminated by day 24 hours a day. Even the young marathon runner is in trouble, let alone the others. Ambulances at the pit stop, for exhausted hamsters.
The climate is threatening, take or leave. But the protest rises and aggregates, in Italy and Germany, right under the Black Friday. It is a workers' strike, about 60% according to the unions.
To denounce the exploitation, fatigue and wear and tear of each one. Physical and mental wear on the joints, from stress. Behind the threat of non-renewals of super-precarious contracts.
'The social conflict exists but it fails to have a collective character. There is a great deal of fragmentation, even competition among workers. As the cases of Amazon and Ikea show, companies go as far as blackmailing workers: either you accept their conditions or you don't work. ' (Maurizio Landini at the Manifesto, 2.12.17)
The response of the US giant follows the ultra-liberal script. The strikers are replaced with temporary reserve workers, the meetings with the unions postponed to the following month. Indeed, the idea seems to be to meet workers individually, relying on individual weaknesses, rather than addressing their representatives. Divide et impera.
Safety at work, the opinion of the labor lawyer
We consulted a labor lawyer, Luigi Corrias of the Milan Bar. 'The news on the Amazon situation does not surprise that much '- says Corrias -' since even today, in our country, the protection of safety and health in the workplace is neither effective nor widespread. '
'The regulatory framework in terms of safety is absolutely incisive, since health is a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Italian Republic, in articles 2 and 32. The protections offered by laws such as Legislative Decree 81/2008 are added. on the subject of workplace safety, and the criminal code. With articles 431 and 451, which apply in cases of accidents at work. ' (Luigi Corrias, lawyer)
The duties of the employer they are also specified in the civil code, in article 2087. 'The entrepreneur is required to adopt, in the running of the business, the measures which, according to the particularities of the work, experience and technique, are necessary to protect the physical integrity and moral personality of the workers.. '
'This legislation can be applied in cases such as that of Amazon', continues the lawyer Luigi Corrias. 'Situations of serious, prolonged and illegitimate employer behavior - for example, the imposition of exhausting shifts, the absence of breaks or rests, the continuous obligation of overtime, even at night and on holidays, etc. - they can integrate violations of safety regulations. Or the statutory duty to guarantee the safety, placed on the employer, and cause damage to the health of workers.'
However, this system of safeguards is under threat the legislative reforms of recent years, which have made it easier to resort to employment relationships characterized by widespread precariousness. The ISTAT data show how - despite the abolition of art. 18 of the Workers' Statute operated by Jobs Act (2) - the fixed-term relationship now represents 80% of new employment contracts (together with other forms of flexibility, such as the administration of work, etc.).
Thus we understand why the worker, especially the precarious one, can be induced to accept very burdensome working conditions, even at the limit of the norm (or even in violation of legal and contractual regulations). And desist from promoting the protection of their rights, in the face of the risk of losing the only source of subsistence.
Conclusions
Amazon's cyber-slavery, like other forms of exploitation of workers in the food supply chain, it cannot and should not be tolerated any further.
Solidarity is the only way to pursue. And if Jeff Bezos does not learn to respect the value of work, consumers will have to help him understand. From the Black Friday ai Red Friday, boycott to educate.
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Cf. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/timed-toilet-breaks-impossible-targets-11587888
(2) Legislative Decree 23/2015
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
