And as we all turn out and fall into line, marching along to the tune
of the Pied Piper, we soon learn that the road ends in an un drained
swamp that is filled with low paying, part time work. But the Piper
marches on, tootling a tune that draws us deeper into the mire. Like
the song of the Siren of old, we cannot turn away. But the Piper
begins playing, "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen". And the ghost of
Christmas Future grins and announces that Christmas 2018 and beyond
have been cancelled due to lack of product purchase.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/8/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://themilitant.com/2017/8146/814650.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 46 December 11, 2017
(special feature)
Retail giants’ competition spurs holiday job speedup
BY SETH GALINSKY
The big-business media are full of reports on how Black Friday sales
show that things are looking up for retail storeowners and e-commerce
operators. Brick-and-mortar store sales didn’t drop as much as they
expected and online sales were booming, they say. “Black Friday Turnout
the ‘Best of the Last Few Years’” headlined the New York Post.
Shoppers spent $5 billion in 24 hours, a 16.9 percent increase from last
year, CNN reported, mostly due to online orders. Amazon, which dominates
internet sales, said it sold over 200,000 toys in the first five hours
on Black Friday.
Sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas — not counting groceries —
account for as much as 40 percent of the annual income of retail
businesses.
A closer look shows that the picture for retail bosses — and especially
their workers — is not so rosy. Walmart, Amazon’s main competitor,
boosted its internet sales, largely by matching Amazon prices or
undercutting them. Walmart’s profit margins have declined four quarters
in a row.
A key way the retail giants are trying to cut their costs is by
tightening the screws on workers.
Retailers report they added some half million temporary workers for this
holiday season — 120,000 of them at Amazon in 30 states, mostly in their
distribution centers. This is the lowest number since at least 2003,
with the exception of the two years following the world financial crisis
that began in 2007.
Grueling conditions for workers
Walmart slowed the pace of seasonal hiring this year and has cut many
positions, making its employees work longer hours and sometimes six days
a week.
In another cost-cutting move, Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett
Biggs said that the company hopes to save $20 million a year by using
smaller plastic shopping bags. Store cashiers say the bags break more
easily, making work harder, at the same time as the bosses press workers
to speed up.
Amazon refused a request by Jacksonville Action News in Florida to visit
their distribution center there, after workers told them the pace was
brutal.
Workers are constantly monitored by supervisors for speed and accuracy,
Action News said. “We had a girl get written up for that, for taking too
many bathroom breaks,” one worker told the TV station. And for breaks,
“you have to take that 10-15 minute walk down stairs and then clock
out,” she said. That time is counted as part of their break.
Amazon, like other retailers, has automated, computerized and robotized
as much of their operation as they can to ramp up output per worker.
The Mirror newspaper sent its reporter Alan Selby undercover to work in
the Amazon warehouse in Tilbury, England. Selby found workers were
required to pack and seal one order every 30 seconds. He was told the
quota would be raised to 200 items an hour.
Besides squeezing their workers more, Walmart, grocery giant Kroger Co.
and other large retail companies are putting it to their suppliers, who
in turn come down on their workers. The Wall Street Journal reported
Nov. 27 that Kroger is fining suppliers $500 for every order that
arrives more than two days late at its 42 warehouses. Walmart is
charging suppliers monthly fines of 3 percent for deliveries that don’t
arrive exactly on time, including if they arrive too early or aren’t
complete.
One of the biggest losers has been 130-year-old Sears, the largest
retail chain until 1989, when Walmart overtook it. In a bid to stave off
bankruptcy, Sears has been selling off its most profitable assets, such
as the Craftsman tools brand. Sales still dropped in half from $53
billion in 2006 to just $25.1 billion in 2015, and they’re still falling.
But don’t worry, rich coupon clippers still hope to make a bundle on
retail stores. In November, two new Exchange-Traded Funds were launched
— “Decline of the Retail Stores ETF” and the “Long Online Short Stores
ETF.” Well-heeled investors, lacking profitable opportunities to put
their cash into increasing production and trade, can bet their bucks
that brick-and-mortar stores are going down the tubes and online outfits
will keep rising. If they bet right, they make money.
As retail bosses push workers to try to maintain profit levels, they’ll
face a reaction. Some 2,500 workers went on strike at six Amazon
distribution centers in Germany and one in Italy on Black Friday,
demanding “dignified salaries.” In Berlin, workers held a banner that
read, “Make Amazon Pay! We Are Humans Not Robots or Data.”
Related articles:
Gov’t presses frame-up of rail workers in Canada
Calif. Henkel workers continue strike for safety
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