Primetime to Strike
Amazon employees will strike while the iron is hot, singling out the company’s busiest time of the year to protest working conditions: Prime Day!
The more recent brainstorm by Amazon corporate bods has only gone and led to the christening of a brand new holiday. The 2-day Prime Day will ride on the back of rapid delivery time promotions, as the e-commerce giant tries to rally up the American spirit to take on a new tradition. Namely, the tradition of buying as many of its products as possible. That should catch on!
However, workers on the ground are frustrated. According to employee spokespeople, working conditions aren’t up to spec, and they’re not receiving enough credit for those quick delivery times. So, what better moment to threaten protests than before Amazon’s big day? A huge Minnesota fulfillment center is down-tooling for 6 hours, the figurehead for others to follow, in a bid to get some light shone on their problems.
Amazon investors not only see this news like a sucker punch to the new Prime Day idea, or as a chip on the brand, but also as a threat to the company’s worldwide delivery network. If you want a tomato, Amazon will deliver it to you. A 50-gallon barrel of oil? No problem. Both by tomorrow? As long as you can sign for it. Now, however, as pockets of Amazonians hear about strike action, the market is contending with something much shakier.
Investors know Prime has helped the company unlock years of profit. The stock is soaring, and it’s now up to Bezos to steer the ship and deliver the $1,952 per share service that investors are paying for. One to watch!