It wasn't Amazon that did this. It was a generation of us growing up and realizing that all parts of the economy that used unionized labor in the US was slow, expensive, inefficient and unable to progress.<p>- government agencies<p>- construction<p>- public transportation<p>- the people at the post office<p>Every time i interacted with people in these fields i silently thought this person would have been fired if they worked in the private sector
I found this bit particularly revealing:
"Amazon’s most effective union-busting tactic was requiring employees to attend so-called captive audience meetings. The presentations were a study in psychological projection. Amazon, a publicly traded for-profit corporation that maximizes shareholder value and refers to its employees as “associates,” was presented as a “family.” Meanwhile, unions—nonprofit organizations whose members call each other “brother” and “sister” and who elect their own leaders—were framed as businesses run by “bosses.” The workers were told that the union, being a business, had come to Bessemer only to squeeze a profit out of them, whereas Amazon, being a family, had arrived to aid a struggling community."
Being born in Europe I always was a huge fan of unions, as agents to level the balance of power between employers and employees. The unions negotiate pay rates, safety procedures, benefits, etc, etc, and have the financial means to back the negotiations with strikes.<p>After coming to US I became less enthusiastic. Unions seem to frequently go overboard. For example only union workers being allowed to plug power cords into the outlets at trade-shows - at great cost - and similar shenanigans that basically seem to only increase cost and reduce productivity.<p>Some of the resentment against unions is self-inflicted.
Perhaps that was and is historically needed here in the US...?