WEBVTT - 11: Everything We’ve Learned About Amazon’s Bad Practice

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<v Speaker 1>I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon

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<v Speaker 1>customer because you guys paid progress. You guys paid probs.

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<v Speaker 1>This is megaco an investigative podcast exposing some of the

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<v Speaker 1>world's most unethical corporations. This series is about Amazon. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Jake Hanrahan, journalists and documentary filmmaker. Megacorp is produced by

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<v Speaker 1>H eleven for Cool Zone Media. So this is the

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<v Speaker 1>final installment of Megacorp. For this series, at least over

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<v Speaker 1>the past twelve episodes, we've dug into almost every Amazon scandal.

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<v Speaker 1>There is dangerous working conditions, union busting, spin on customers,

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<v Speaker 1>and much much more. This series has been very information dents.

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<v Speaker 1>So for the final episode here, I'm going to recap

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<v Speaker 1>everything we've learned and take a look at what people

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<v Speaker 1>might want to do now they have all this information.

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<v Speaker 1>You can maybe use this last episode as a primer

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<v Speaker 1>to get people interested in listening to the whole of megacorps.

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<v Speaker 1>Or you could use it as a too long, didn't

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<v Speaker 1>read version. It's up to you anyway. Let's go back

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<v Speaker 1>to episode one. We heard about the mistreatment of warehouse

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<v Speaker 1>workers at Amazon, where they're worked off their feet. As

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<v Speaker 1>we mentioned then, Amazon warehouse workers are paid around seventeen

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<v Speaker 1>dollars an hour in the US and around fourteen pounds

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<v Speaker 1>an hour in the UK. For these wages, employees will

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<v Speaker 1>often work ten to twelve hour shifts, constantly on their feet,

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<v Speaker 1>where they're expected to hit never ending targets. A package

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<v Speaker 1>must be dealt with every thirty seconds. If you're working

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<v Speaker 1>as a pick you're expected to process three hundred items

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<v Speaker 1>per hour. You've given nine seconds to take each item

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<v Speaker 1>from a robot that delivers shelf upon shelf of Amazon packages.

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<v Speaker 1>Staff are constantly filmed in the warehouse as they work,

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<v Speaker 1>and their toilet breaks are even time. Workers get two

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen minute breaks, much of which can be taken up

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<v Speaker 1>by just walking to the toilet through the vast expanse

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<v Speaker 1>of the warehouse. People often fall asleep standing up will

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<v Speaker 1>become injured at work. Leak documents revealed in the New

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<v Speaker 1>York Staten Island Amazon Warehouse reported injuries over three times

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<v Speaker 1>the industry average. To put that into context, the injury

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<v Speaker 1>percentages at the Amazon warehouse will worse than its steel

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<v Speaker 1>refineries and sawmills all over the world. Workers have voiced

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<v Speaker 1>anger at these horrific working conditions, so as any of

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<v Speaker 1>this changed in a few months we've been doing this series.

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<v Speaker 1>The short answer is no. There have been some victories

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<v Speaker 1>for unions here and there, but Amazon continues in its

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<v Speaker 1>mission to crush them. Workers are exhausted, overworked, and in

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<v Speaker 1>my opinion, are often treated like flesh robots on a

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<v Speaker 1>warehouse floor. For that, Amazon managers now remember Bezos is

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<v Speaker 1>worth an estimated one and seventy seven billion dollars, and

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<v Speaker 1>on working conditions at Amazon, he has said quote, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>very proud of our working conditions end quote. After twelve

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of research for this that quote rings even more

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<v Speaker 1>tone death for me than it did at episode one,

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<v Speaker 1>especially when you consider how sinister some of Amazon's union

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<v Speaker 1>busting techniques have been, which we covered in episode two.

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<v Speaker 1>If you remember, we covered how in and internal and

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<v Speaker 1>union Amazon video was leaked onto the internet. The video

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<v Speaker 1>is essentially a training guide on how to stop workers unionizing.

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<v Speaker 1>This video was sent to managers at the company Whole

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<v Speaker 1>Foods amidst the initial stages of worker organization around June.

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<v Speaker 1>Whole food was brought out by Amazon in seventeen for

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<v Speaker 1>thirteen point seven billion dollars. The anti union video is

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<v Speaker 1>forty five minutes long, and it's split up into six

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<v Speaker 1>different parts. The whole thing is animated. It takes place

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<v Speaker 1>in a two D Amazon warehouse, where the narrator says,

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<v Speaker 1>the purpose of the video is quote specifically designed to

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<v Speaker 1>give you the tools that you need for success when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to labor organizing end quote. Now there's something

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<v Speaker 1>quite all well and in the way this video portrays itself.

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<v Speaker 1>As we said before, it's essentially a guide that Amazon

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<v Speaker 1>is created to help recognize when workers unions are beginning

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<v Speaker 1>to form, but not so they can help them. It's

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<v Speaker 1>so they can stop them. Yet the language used in

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<v Speaker 1>the video acts as if it's somehow an ally of

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<v Speaker 1>the workers. When they say they're helping give companies the

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<v Speaker 1>tools they need for success when it comes to labor organizing,

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<v Speaker 1>what they mean by success is basically crushing the unions.

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon is training and encouraging workers to literally spy on

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<v Speaker 1>each other. They suggest monitor in their behavior, their clothes,

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<v Speaker 1>and even what words they use to try and work

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<v Speaker 1>out if they're involved in union organizing or not. The

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<v Speaker 1>video goes as farmers to suggest that managers second guess

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<v Speaker 1>the motivations of the workers by watching to see if

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<v Speaker 1>anything changes in their behavior, even if they have not

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<v Speaker 1>said anything regarding unionizing. So I think it's safe to

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<v Speaker 1>say that the Amazon warehouse and anyone unionize in there

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<v Speaker 1>is not in the healthiest place to be working if

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<v Speaker 1>you want some level of autonomy in the workplace. So

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<v Speaker 1>what about the health and safety. Well in episode three

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<v Speaker 1>we covered that too now. As we noted back then,

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty the UK's GMB trade union obtained figures that

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<v Speaker 1>showed injury rates weren't improving and we're perhaps getting worse.

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<v Speaker 1>More than fifty of the country's Amazon warehouses. GMB used

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<v Speaker 1>the Freedom of Information Act to get hold of the

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<v Speaker 1>figures that showed the dire situation of warehouse safety. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>as cited in a Guardian article, in three years leading

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<v Speaker 1>up to twenty, more than six hundred Amazon workers have

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<v Speaker 1>been seriously injured at UK warehouses. That's an average of

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred plus Amazon workers a year sustaining what's classed

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<v Speaker 1>as quote serious injury in the workplace. In the UK,

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<v Speaker 1>the annual total of Amazon warehouse injuries was one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty two. In the years twenty sixteen to twenty seventeen,

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<v Speaker 1>it went up to two hundred and thirty in twenty eighteen,

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<v Speaker 1>and then up again to two hundred and forty in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen. One study by the Strategic Organizing Center the

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<v Speaker 1>s o C shows that workers more likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>injured at Amazon warehouses than in any other warehouse in

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<v Speaker 1>that industry. They're also more likely to be injured more

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<v Speaker 1>frequently at Amazon warehouses, even more severely. So basically, if

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<v Speaker 1>you work in warehouses for a living, you are way

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to catch a severe injury working for Amazon

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<v Speaker 1>than any other of their competitors. So Amazon's warehouse work

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<v Speaker 1>is borderline oppressive and even dangerous. When workers want to

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<v Speaker 1>unionize to try and change some of this, Amazon truly

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<v Speaker 1>encourages other employees to spy on them in a bid

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<v Speaker 1>to crush the union. So why is Amazon so underhanded? Honestly,

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<v Speaker 1>at this stage, my best guess is quite simply because

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<v Speaker 1>profit over everything. As we already know, Bezos is the

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<v Speaker 1>richest man on earth. It's not like his business is

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<v Speaker 1>struggling either. As we mentioned in episode four, in twenty twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon made forty four billion euros in sales income in Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>That's thirty eight billion pounds and fifty billion dollars they

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<v Speaker 1>didn't pay any corporation tax on this. Corporation tax is

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<v Speaker 1>paid by businesses in the UK, and it's calculated on

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<v Speaker 1>their annual profits in a similar way to income tax

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<v Speaker 1>for individuals. The corporation tax rate has been for all

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<v Speaker 1>limited companies since April. Prior to this, the rate very

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<v Speaker 1>dependent on the company's profits. Unlike individuals, companies don't receive

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<v Speaker 1>any kind of tax free allowance and therefore all profits

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<v Speaker 1>are taxable. However, there are a number of expenses and

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<v Speaker 1>deductions that can be claimed to reduce your bill. Either way,

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon should pay their way like everyone else has to. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>as I stated before, I am not a big fan

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<v Speaker 1>of any state, and I'm certainly not a fan of

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<v Speaker 1>my government here in the UK. But this is just

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<v Speaker 1>the way things are. If you're a mega rich company

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<v Speaker 1>making money under these conditions, you should have to pay

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<v Speaker 1>the proper tax under these conditions. Why well, because if you,

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<v Speaker 1>or me, or your average man and woman earning normal

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<v Speaker 1>money on the street don't pay their taxes, we get

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<v Speaker 1>sent to prison. Now, your average man or woman is

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<v Speaker 1>not rich enough to hire top of the range accountants

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<v Speaker 1>firms that help you dodge at tax Amazon is. I

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<v Speaker 1>say this because what they're doing is actually perfectly legal. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know about you, but for me, that makes

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<v Speaker 1>it all the more frustrating. Europe has become a playground

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<v Speaker 1>for mega corporations. They're able to do acrobatics with their

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<v Speaker 1>tax payments because they can afford to make it work

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<v Speaker 1>for them. Meanwhile, companies like Amazon willingly abused their most

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<v Speaker 1>important workers, whilst paying as little as possible back into

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<v Speaker 1>the countries they make money off of. If all this

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't bad enough, we went on to discover in episode

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<v Speaker 1>five and six that Amazon is also spying on everybody too.

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<v Speaker 1>So we asked the question, is Amazon spying on you?

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<v Speaker 1>We took a look at several of their products and

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<v Speaker 1>the answer was a resounding yes they are. First, we

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<v Speaker 1>looked at their smart speakers. In nineteen, it emerged that

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon employees have been listening to voice recordings captured via

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<v Speaker 1>Amazon's Echo smart speaker in consumers homes and offices. This

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't a couple of rogue employees either. Amazon literally hired

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of people to do this. Their job was to

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<v Speaker 1>not only listen to what you're saying, but to also

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<v Speaker 1>transcribe and annotate it. They then feed it back into

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<v Speaker 1>the software with the aim of apparently helping Alexa understand

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<v Speaker 1>voice commands more effectively. Either way, they're listening to your

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<v Speaker 1>conversations and they're writing them down. This raises extremely serious

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<v Speaker 1>questions about a citizens personal privacy, and trust me, it

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<v Speaker 1>gets a lot worse. Reported by Forbes, the people tasked

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<v Speaker 1>with listening to your conversations quote required to record the data,

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<v Speaker 1>whether the device has been activated on purpose or not.

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<v Speaker 1>End quote. So by buying an Amazon Echo, you've essentially

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<v Speaker 1>invited an employee of Amazon to listen into your private conversations,

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<v Speaker 1>whether you've given Alexa a command or not. If Big

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<v Speaker 1>Brother is always watching, it's clear now that Amazon is

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<v Speaker 1>always listening. If the people hired to listen, in record,

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<v Speaker 1>and annotate conversations in your home via the Amazon Echo

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<v Speaker 1>here private data such as your bank details, they're told

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<v Speaker 1>to just market down as quote critical data and move on.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's just hope every single one of the thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>people Amazon employed to do this honest and didn't steal

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<v Speaker 1>anyone's details. Next, we looked at Amazon's home security devices. Specifically,

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<v Speaker 1>Ring Ring is a home security company owned by Amazon.

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<v Speaker 1>They bought it in eighteen for one billion dollars, and

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<v Speaker 1>millions of people across the world used the technology. Ring

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<v Speaker 1>provides a line of WiFi connected security cameras for your home.

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<v Speaker 1>You've likely seen footage of Ring doorbell security systems online.

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<v Speaker 1>Is basically you usually a little camera in the doorbell

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever they put it in their house, and it

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<v Speaker 1>allows the home owner to see what's going on outside

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<v Speaker 1>before they open the door or inside. For example, if

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<v Speaker 1>you want to keep an eye on your kids as

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<v Speaker 1>they're playing through the WiFi, you can pull Ring up

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<v Speaker 1>on your phone or your tablet, or your laptop or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen it was reported that hackers had built themselves

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<v Speaker 1>dedicated software for hacking into Amazon's Ring security cameras. It

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<v Speaker 1>becomes clear how funked up this is when looking at

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<v Speaker 1>a story from Mississippi in the US, where it was

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<v Speaker 1>discovered that hackers had managed to get into a Ring

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<v Speaker 1>security camera placed in the bedroom of three young girls,

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<v Speaker 1>one of them was just eight years old. The hacker

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<v Speaker 1>managed to take control of the Ring security camera, playing

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<v Speaker 1>music through its speaker as the young girl has played

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<v Speaker 1>in their room. The hacker played the song Tiptoe through

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<v Speaker 1>the tulips, and when one of the young girls asked

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<v Speaker 1>who was there, the hacker replied, quote, it's Santa, It's

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<v Speaker 1>your best friend. End quote. If that wasn't bad enough,

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<v Speaker 1>it was later discovered that rings own employees have been

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<v Speaker 1>improperly accessing rings user video data. It doesn't stop with

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<v Speaker 1>the home security systems either. We learned that Amazon had

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<v Speaker 1>been allowing law enforcement to use customers home security systems,

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<v Speaker 1>specifically the ring doorbells to access video footage in the

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<v Speaker 1>wake of the George Floyd riots across the US. They've

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<v Speaker 1>also been building huge systems for America's CIA of Britain's

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<v Speaker 1>g C h Q After that. This brings us to

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<v Speaker 1>episode seven, where we looked into Jeff bezos trips to

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<v Speaker 1>near space aboard his Blue Origin projects. Blue Origin, the

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<v Speaker 1>Bazos commercial space company, stresses that to keep costs down,

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<v Speaker 1>their rockets are all about reusability. Well, actually, when we

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<v Speaker 1>looked into it, according to the two World Inequality Report,

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<v Speaker 1>one space flight amidst more carbon dioxide than most of

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<v Speaker 1>the world's population creates in their entire lifetime. To me,

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<v Speaker 1>knowing that, it seems a bit ironic for Blue Origin

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<v Speaker 1>to be talking about paving the way to a brighter

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<v Speaker 1>future for our kids, as they do when their very

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<v Speaker 1>own m oh of regular commercial space flights will possibly

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<v Speaker 1>destroy the Earth's environment quicker. Now, whilst Blue Origin says

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<v Speaker 1>it wants to make commercial space travel cheap, they don't

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<v Speaker 1>mean the same kind of cheap as the way most

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<v Speaker 1>people understand it cheap to me, for example, is say

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<v Speaker 1>thirty pence for a point of milk. My point is

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<v Speaker 1>the people who will be taking these space flights will

0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:59.720
<v Speaker 1>almost definitely already be very very rich. For their michere

0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 1>might be cheap, but for your average man and woman

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:06.520
<v Speaker 1>on the street, Blue Origins space trips will be completely

0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:11.920
<v Speaker 1>and utterly unobtainable. So in theory, whilst these rich people

0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.800
<v Speaker 1>are flying around like the Jetsons claiming to be advancing society,

0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:19.520
<v Speaker 1>for us, your everyday man and woman are getting blasted

0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:24.080
<v Speaker 1>in the long run with unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide

0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.160
<v Speaker 1>build up in the atmosphere. Now why does that matter, Well,

0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.280
<v Speaker 1>if there's too much carbon dioxide, the Earth gets too hot.

0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:34.520
<v Speaker 1>If the Earth gets too hot, we are all completely fucked.

0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.560
<v Speaker 1>The oceans will go toxic, food will become scarce, crops

0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:44.280
<v Speaker 1>won't grow, and brutal climate wars will undoubtedly erupt. Carbon

0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.600
<v Speaker 1>dioxide levels have been steadily rising on Earth for the

0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.560
<v Speaker 1>past one hundred years now, hitting levels that scientists say

0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:56.240
<v Speaker 1>have been unprecedented for hundreds of thousands over years. So

0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.360
<v Speaker 1>we already reckoned the shop due to excessive pollution, and

0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:03.240
<v Speaker 1>now the rich commercial space people want to save us

0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.879
<v Speaker 1>by dumping out a load more carbon dioxide via space

0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:10.520
<v Speaker 1>shuttles will never be able to afford a ride on.

0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.720
<v Speaker 1>After taking a look at Blue Origin and Bezos is

0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:17.639
<v Speaker 1>Early Life, we came back to Earth and the present

0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:22.040
<v Speaker 1>day to learn about the Amazon Flex driver pyramid scheme,

0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.760
<v Speaker 1>a scandal in which Amazon drivers had had their tips

0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.920
<v Speaker 1>stolen from them by Amazon as a means to pay

0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:33.680
<v Speaker 1>their daily rate. For this, Amazon got fined sixty one

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<v Speaker 1>point seven billion dollars, and believe it or not, almost

0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:43.760
<v Speaker 1>immediately they became even richer. Listen to episode eleven to

0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:47.240
<v Speaker 1>find out how. Now, that was all a very long

0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.400
<v Speaker 1>way of summing up the key points of what we've

0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.520
<v Speaker 1>already gone into in this series. But as I said,

0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:55.800
<v Speaker 1>you can use this as a means to draw people

0:17:55.840 --> 0:18:00.679
<v Speaker 1>into learning more about the mistreatment, corruption, and on stop

0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.239
<v Speaker 1>scandal inside Amazon. Now, if you've got to the end

0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.360
<v Speaker 1>of this series, you've listened to every episode, you might

0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.320
<v Speaker 1>be thinking, should I boycott Amazon or not? Well, maybe

0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.320
<v Speaker 1>you shouldn't, Maybe you shouldn't. I don't know that. It's

0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.919
<v Speaker 1>entirely up to you. I didn't make this series to

0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.480
<v Speaker 1>preach or tell anybody what they have to do. Let's

0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:22.160
<v Speaker 1>be honest, Amazon has become so intrinsic in our lives

0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:25.359
<v Speaker 1>and so useful that it's hard to totally detach from it.

0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:29.360
<v Speaker 1>Spending money with Amazon obviously doesn't make you a bad person,

0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:32.439
<v Speaker 1>and it doesn't mean you have no ethics, And if

0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.920
<v Speaker 1>anyone tells you that, honestly, just tell them to mind

0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.200
<v Speaker 1>their own fucking business. Saying that, at the very least,

0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.400
<v Speaker 1>I do think if you're purchasing from a company as

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<v Speaker 1>soulless and as ruthless as Amazon often is, the very

0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.119
<v Speaker 1>least you should be aware of what they're really up to.

0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.480
<v Speaker 1>With this series, I've tried my best to cover all

0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.720
<v Speaker 1>of that with as much detail as possible. Outside of

0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:02.400
<v Speaker 1>being aware of Amazon's theft, spying, worker mistreatment, and tax dodging,

0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.760
<v Speaker 1>I'd suggest supporting any Amazon workers union you can. Don't

0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:11.440
<v Speaker 1>worry too much about are you represented politically within it.

0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:13.840
<v Speaker 1>These are workers that are coming together and they want

0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.679
<v Speaker 1>a better future and a better working environment. That is

0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:21.520
<v Speaker 1>definitely worth supporting in my opinion. Also, I would say this,

0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:25.119
<v Speaker 1>but also spread this series far and wide. I didn't

0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:28.520
<v Speaker 1>make this for other reporters. I didn't make this specifically

0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:31.239
<v Speaker 1>for people that want to be outraged. I made this

0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.280
<v Speaker 1>for everybody. If you are shopping at Amazon As, millions

0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.280
<v Speaker 1>and millions and millions of people do, I think again,

0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:40.000
<v Speaker 1>the very least you should do is be aware of

0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.720
<v Speaker 1>their bad practices. Also, I would suggest checking out the

0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:47.960
<v Speaker 1>works of the many reporters I've cited by name throughout

0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.480
<v Speaker 1>this series. If you ever happened to be in contact

0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:54.920
<v Speaker 1>with Jeff Bezos for any reason, tell him to look

0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:59.480
<v Speaker 1>after his workers. They're the most important facet of his empire.

0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:05.720
<v Speaker 1>Without them, he is fucked. This has been mega core

0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:14.800
<v Speaker 1>with me. Jake Hanrahan, thank you for listening. Mega Corp

0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.120
<v Speaker 1>Is made by my production company H eleven for Cool

0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:24.600
<v Speaker 1>Zone Media. It's written, researched, and produced by myself, Jake Hanrahan.

0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:30.480
<v Speaker 1>It was also produced by Sophie Lichtmant. Music is by

0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:35.120
<v Speaker 1>some Black Graphics by Adam Doyle and sound engineering by

0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.800
<v Speaker 1>splicing block. If you want to get in touch, follow

0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:44.080
<v Speaker 1>me on social media at Jake Underscool, Hanrahan. That's h

0:20:44.119 --> 0:21:01.960
<v Speaker 1>a n a A h a n The Break