Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work

Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by mschuster91 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @05:31AM (#28928630)

And this is why regulation is needed. As long as employees want OT pay because otherwise they can't make a living, they will work (sometimes ridiculous) amounts of OT and companies will exploit that need of the workers. People having to work two full-time jobs or balancing "gig economy" modern slavery just to make rent? That only shows how broken the system is, especially when it comes to rents.

Fair wages and OT bans by law are the only way out - like in Germany, where you are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a day across all your jobs combined.

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Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by BostonFern on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @06:53AM (#28929191)

I don't agree with equating paid employment in a free society with slavery. I think that's distasteful rhetoric, however, the idea of a government imposing restriction on individual citizens' time to eradicate overtime, the only way for a substantial amount of people to get ahead in life, is closer to an inescapable situation than a busy minimum-wage job with overtime available.

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Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by mschuster91 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @07:29AM (#28929425)

> I don't agree with equating paid employment in a free society with slavery.

If people only have the choice between being exploited by Amazon in conditions that are beyond reasonable (e.g. having to piss in bottles, not getting lunch breaks), by "gig employers" shifting entrepreneurial risk towards employees (Uber, but also hospitality that doesn't pay minimum wage so people are depending on tips) or being homeless, then yes it is modern slavery.

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Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by littlecranky67 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @05:51AM (#28928767)

Yes, and to add to your comment, in Germany the Employer is responsible for monitoring those 10h limits of its employees. If for example and employee would die in an accident due to falling asleep while driving after more than 10h of work, the employer can be held accountable.

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Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by mantas on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @06:02AM (#28928827)

The problem is how do you define „make a living“ and what do you do if someone just wants extra €€€ beyond that?

I make fair money yet I still moonlighted a lot. Should I be allowed to work extra to have money for a sweet bicycle or travelling?

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Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by mschuster91 on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @06:10AM (#28928888)

Most people in the US doing two or more jobs are not doing it for extra money, they are doing so for sheer survival.

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Re:Amazon warehouse employee in Poland dies at work by mantas on Wednesday October 20, 2021 @06:11AM (#28928891)

Poor US. Glad I'm in eastern europe.

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