[HN Gopher] Amazon worker chat app to ban words such as "union",...
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Amazon worker chat app to ban words such as "union", "pay raise",
"slave labor"
Author : enraged_camel
Score : 86 points
Date : 2022-04-04 19:57 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (theintercept.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (theintercept.com)
| advisedwang wrote:
| What blows my mind is that it sounds like the "Shout-Outs" this
| applies to is essentially a reward system. It's a place for
| talking about the positives. By adding filtering to _force_ it to
| be positive they completely poison its own goal, as everyone
| would know how limited it is.
| bko wrote:
| It sounds like its an internal chat app, presumably meant for
| business. If people were openly talking about "slave labor" and
| "vaccine" on any public company slack channels, I would think
| they'd shut it down at most organizations. I don't think you're
| allowed to use company time to organize. I don't think its
| unreasonable to make people work when they're on the clock and
| remove distractions. Many are used to comfortable jobs where they
| can post memes on slack or comment on social media during the
| working day, but these jobs are really the exception not the
| rule.
| 4oo4 wrote:
| I agree with that but I think including "pay raise" is a step
| too far. Employees have the right to discuss pay, via the NRLA.
| That is not inherently politically loaded language despite
| Amazon trying to make it so.
| bko wrote:
| Yeah you may be right. I don't know about the specifics or
| have any opinion about particular words. I just think work
| should be professional. It's not a family. It's a group of
| people that get together to get a job done.
| wbsss4412 wrote:
| There are enough words on the list to get at intent, and it
| would seem that maintaining professionalism isn't the only
| intent of that list.
|
| "Accessibility", "fairness", "harassment", etc are all
| normal words to use within the context of professional
| discussion.
| 4oo4 wrote:
| Yep, it's a lazy attempt at enforcing an Amazon Newspeak.
|
| Coming soon: Amazon removes the SQL `Union` clause from
| all its products.
| AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote:
| > I don't think its unreasonable to make people work when
| they're on the clock and remove distractions.
|
| I find that generally the kind of person who says such things
| is the kind of person who has a comfortable job where they can
| post memes on slack or comment on social media during the
| working day.
| bko wrote:
| I would bet if you did a survey and asked whether you think
| it's appropriate to post spicy memes and organize against
| your employer on the company's time and systems you'd see a
| clear correlation with income levels. The lower the income
| the more bizarre they would consider that behavior
| unsupp0rted wrote:
| I would guess it's the reverse, judging by /r/WorkReform.
|
| It's tens of thousands of people who categorically refuse
| to understand what employers hire people for, in principle.
|
| Some % of them does understand what a business is, why
| businesses hire people, and why and how our systems can be
| realistically reformed to improve conditions for all
| workers. But most people don't.
|
| I wouldn't be surprised if many of them see the option of
| posting spicy memes and organizing against one's employer
| on company time as a fundamental human right.
| kotaKat wrote:
| It's not even a "chat app". It's some "shout out" social
| network system.
|
| Amazon FC employees already have access to Chime and there's no
| message filtering there. I've seen the "u word" dropped back
| and forth on it myself.
| walterclifford wrote:
| > I don't think you're allowed to use company time to organize
|
| True, but they can't be discriminatory in how they restrict
| communications. If they prohibit all non-work discussions on
| this app that appears to be fine - but not if they only
| restrict topics that are likely related to organizing. From
| https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/em...
|
| "Also, restrictions on your efforts to communicate with co-
| workers cannot be discriminatory. For example, your employer
| cannot prohibit you from talking about the union during working
| time if it permits you to talk about other non-work-related
| matters during working time."
| bombcar wrote:
| I'm sure the employee handbook is setup correctly.
|
| I'm also entirely sure the rule is spottily enforced.
| imchillyb wrote:
| Does Amazon /want/ a counterculture within their employees?
|
| Because this is exactly how companies create countercultures
| within the ranks of their employees.
| iamdamian wrote:
| For anyone who is concerned about the level of authoritarian
| control companies like Amazon have over employees, you might find
| the book Private Government worth a read:
| https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691176512/pr...
| tenebrisalietum wrote:
| Why would you use a work-provided chat app to discuss things
| the company may not like? For example, do you not expect your
| employer to know if you're browsing for another job over
| company provided Internet on company provided laptops?
|
| If they were spying on the guest Wifi, that's another thing.
| black_puppydog wrote:
| Honest question: are workers allowed to use physical pin
| boards to put up e.g. After hour part invitations or yoga
| groups?
|
| Asking of course because these would be analogous; zero
| marginal cost to let the workers use them once they're up.
| zardo wrote:
| Presumably because the work chat app is something that every
| worker has.
| DennisP wrote:
| Maybe because union organizing is protected by law?
|
| It doesn't count as _working_ so Amazon can get away with
| this as long as they prohibit all non-work conversation, but
| if they 're specifically targeting union organizing then it
| looks like they're breaking the law:
|
| https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-
| law/em...
| sbinthree wrote:
| Whatever the corporate equivalent is of a late stage
| authoritarian dictatorship.
| [deleted]
| infamouscow wrote:
| "Spreading misinformation."
| scarmig wrote:
| So much of what we call "capitalism" is just creating
| authoritarian planned economies in the miniature and shrugging
| our shoulders and saying that it's all "private" so rights like
| free speech don't apply. And both factions of the elite who run
| the country like it that way.
| thrwaway9871 wrote:
| "Algorithms"
| mc32 wrote:
| The old, it's a private company so they can set their own rules
| (see all the responses to Twitter censorship accusations).
| tenebrisalietum wrote:
| Over a chat app they provide for work use, I'm not seeing the
| ethical issue. Pay and overwork is one thing but why can't
| these employees use their phone for things they don't want
| the company to observe? Phones are cheap.
| rubiquity wrote:
| Would you be ok with them taking away the break room if
| such discussions were happening in the break room?
| [deleted]
| TheCoelacanth wrote:
| They can set their own rules, within the bounds allowed by
| law. It appears to me that they would only be allowed to make
| this restriction if they prohibit all non-work conversation:
| https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-
| law/em...
| b9be520d93286 wrote:
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(page generated 2022-04-04 23:01 UTC)