In a pithy commentary published on The Nation website, Mike Davis points out that in previous wars wealthy individuals and corporations were expected to play their part. Income tax was increased on rich citizens to pay for the war. And essential corporations such as railways were nationalized.
In 2014, Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times: “Amazon.com, the giant online retailer, has too much power, and it uses that power in ways that hurt America.”
Amazon reported that it had $75.5 billion in sales in the latest quarter, up 26 percent from a year earlier, surpassing analysts’ expectations. Profit fell about 29 percent, to $2.5 billion, because it cost more to meet the increased customer demand.
New York Times, May 1, 2020.
In the current “war” on the Covid-19 virus, Mike Davis argues that we need to nationalize “the infrastructure of the digital age—including Amazon and private delivery services—and operate it as a series of democratically administered public utilities.”
As well as a retail operation, Amazon also operates web services used by much of the internet. Perhaps its the modern equivalent of the railway in the 1910’s.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that investors are betting that corporations like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook will increasingly dominate the economy in the post-Pandemic world. Smaller corporations will not be able to compete with the resources of these Behemoths, or will be swallowed up by them.
For many people, Amazon is an efficient delivery service for items that they need while staying at home during the Pandemic.
Yet there have been repeated reports in the new media of unsafe working conditions at Amazon warehouses and shipping facilities.
At least 50 Amazon warehouses in the US have confirmed one or more employees have tested positive for coronavirus, as its network of facilities, which are operated by about 400,000 workers, remain open as online orders surge. Workers at Amazon warehouses in New York City, Chicago and Detroit have held walkouts in protest of working conditions during the pandemic.
(The Guardian, April 7, 2020)
Ms. Jayapal … outlined her concerns about worker safety and other issues, including a report from an undercover journalist in Britain that employees had been urinating in water bottles because the warehouses had limited bathrooms.
New York Times, May 3, 2020
An employee at a Toronto-area warehouse also tested positive for Covid-19.
In New York, a manager was fired by Amazon after organizing a walkout protest. VICE published leaked memos from Amazon denigrating the manager and working out a public relations strategy. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5dm8bx/leaked-amazon-memo-details-plan-to-smear-fired-warehouse-organizer-hes-not-smart-or-articulate
Amazon then fired another three employees who made public statements questioning Amazon’s pandemic safety measures, or for demanding increased cleaning at Amazon facilities.
In France, a court ruling forced Amazon to close down its warehouses because they are unsafe for workers. Amazon appealed that decision and lost.
COVID-19 outbreak at Amazon warehouse in Alberta — Alberta is reporting an outbreak of COVID-19 at an Amazon warehouse north of Calgary. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical health officer, says there are five cases at the site at Balzac.
Globe and Mail / Canadian Press, May 1, 2020
Commentators have noticed that Amazon is starting to behave as if it were a sovereign state rather than a business that must follow national laws and safety regulations.
Reuters reported that Amazon, Target and Instacart workers in the United States staged protests on May Day, 2020.
Amazon’s increased visibility means that people are taking notice. Read a report: Amazon’s Stranglehold: How the Company’s Tightening Grip on the Economy Is Stifling Competition, Eroding Jobs, and Threatening Communities https://ilsr.org/amazon-stranglehold/
On May 1, 2020 the New York Times reported that Jeff Bezos will be required to appear before a Congress subcommittee that oversees violations of Anti-Trust laws. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/technology/jeff-bezos-congress.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Technology
UPDATE: “A Canadian software developer says he has resigned his position as a vice president with Amazon over the firing of employees who he says fought for better COVID-19 protection in the company’s warehouses. Tim Bray, who says he worked with Amazon Web Services, wrote in a blog post that he “quit in dismay at Amazon firing of two whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of COVID-19.” Bray says some workers, who had been active with a group of Amazon employees pushing the company for leadership on the global climate emergency, were contacted by Amazon warehouse staff concerned about what they considered lack of coronavirus protection. He says the employees with the climate group responded by internally promoting a petition and an April 16 video call with guest activist Naomi Klein, and made an announcement using an internal mailing list. Bray says two workers who were leaders with the climate group were immediately fired.” – Toronto Star May 5, 2020 12:48 a.m.
UPDATE: Sam Levin, Revealed: Amazon told workers paid sick leave law doesn’t cover warehouses, The Guardian, May 7, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/07/amazon-warehouse-workers-coronavirus-time-off-california
John Herrman, Amazon’s Big Breakdown, New York Times, May 27, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/27/magazine/amazon-coronavirus.html
Key Readings:
Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism (2017).
Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (2019)
Trent Research Group on the Pandemic 