Apparently, working at an Amazon warehouse bites bigly. Jeff Bezos is an oppressor of the masses who must pee in trash cans to avoid being off task. This Dickensian nightmare is described in a rather lengthy Business Insider article “Peeing in trash cans, constant surveillance, and asthma attacks on the job: Amazon workers tell us their warehouse horror stories”. From the article:

Amazon “pickers” move around the warehouse on a predetermined route to collect items for delivery, scanning each one with a handheld scanner, which times the length between scans, employees said.

They say pickers must hit a certain number of scans per hour, and if they miss their targets, a manager will show up to see what they’re doing.

and

Employees say that things like spending time talking to coworkers, going to get a drink, or even taking too long to find a package are billed as “time off task,” too much of which leads to penalty points for an employee. Get enough of those, and you’re fired.

That — combined with security cameras dotting Amazon’s warehouses, its airport-style security checks, and short breaks — makes employees feel like “robots,” they said. And it’s all in the service of getting those parcels out faster.

which leads to

A former Amazon warehouse worker described being stopped in his tracks by an “awful smell” emanating from the trash cans. The stench, he said, was “unmistakable” and led him to one conclusion: His coworkers were so worried about taking too long on a bathroom break that they had resorted to urinating in the bin.

This article focused mainly on British Amazonians, but one would assume it’s like this at every Amazon warehouse.

I wish I could be sympathetic to these Amazonians but that’s not possible. Warehouse and factory work is by its very nature awful and dehumanizing. According to CNN Money, not including benefits the average Amazonian warehouse worker makes $13.50/hour or $25,000 per year. Amazon also offers tuition reimbursement and stock options. For unskilled labor, that is quite good.

Since the novel “Brave New World” has not yet become reality, you do not have to work at Amazon. True fact. You cannot be forced to go to work for any corporation or entity. You are free to work elsewhere. You are free to start your own company just like Jeff Bezos did. You are free to learn a trade. The world is desperate for plumbers, electricians and bricklayers and the jobs pay well.

Unfortunately, I have a business degree. Yeah, I know. I am a cog in the wheel of the average worker’s oppression.

In order for Jeff Bezos to make money (and he has done that well) his warehouses must operate in the most efficient manner possible. Just like in working at a Ford Motor Company assembly line, the transmissions, trucks or cars must flow in a certain order to be most efficient.

Henry Ford, Frederick Winslow Taylor and Frank and Dr. Lillian Gilbreth were all early pioneers of Time and Motion Study in the early part of the Industrial Age in the United States.

The following brief video is a look at some of Frank Gilbreth’s work. Notice how repetitive the factory work is.

I realize this is not the clever snark that you are used to from Victory Girls, but this is serious business. Very soon robots will take over this work and the complaining workers will be without their unskilled jobs. But be very clear, this is not about the workers. This is about unionization. From the article again:

The employee added: “Amazon needs union representation globally. It is modern slavery. Jeff Bezos has become the richest man in the world off the backs of people so desperate for work that we tolerate the abuse.”

There is always another job out there. This is not modern slavery. You don’t want Bezos to get richer, don’t work for him.