• Security: The Civil Guard warns of a scam that seeks to steal your Amazon account
  • You listen: Scandal on Amazon: the company recognizes that it saves your conversations forever

It was not a strike of distributors, nor the conditions "back-breakers" denounced by workers in warehouses around the world. The spark that started the riot of Amazon employees at its own headquarters is due to the discrepancies of some intermediate positions regarding the multinational's environmental and communication policies .

The divergence of views has been evident with the signing of a manifesto by more than 350 workers and intermediate positions that are identified as " Amazon employees for Climate Justice ." A manifesto that goes beyond environmental complaints and in which some of the company's star products are described as "incompatible with a free society."

This is how the rebellion was cooked

The rebellion at the Amazon headquarters in Seattle began to take shape at the beginning of the month when two employees received a written warning telling them they could be fired if they again violated communication policies. An internal regulation that requires workers to ask permission before making an appearance in public in which they deal with any issue related to Amazon.

Both workers (the head of the user experience area, Maren Costa, and an engineer named Jamie Kowalski) gave interviews to the Washington Post (which has the same owner as Amazon, Jeff Bezos) accusing his employer of contributing to climate change for allow companies engaged in fossil fuel extraction to hire Amazon cloud services .

After receiving the call to order, Costa again denounced the situation before the Post alleging that he "raised his voice" when he felt "terrified of the damage that the climate crisis is causing, which makes me fear for the future of my children ." In addition, he justified the reason for his interventions.

"Speaking is our moral responsibility - despite Amazon's attempts to censor us - especially when the weather poses an unprecedented threat to humanity, " he says.

Amazon's attempts to control the discordant voices of its employees, coupled with the climate of mobilization existing at the headquarters of the large companies in Silicon Valley contributed to ignite the wick of Sunday's protests and the publication of a manifesto signed by more than 350 employees (technicians and positions of responsibility outside the board, the vast majority) in which they criticized, identified with names and surnames, the practices and policies of the company with which they disagreed .

"Separate children from their parents at the border"

"I work with amazing people on big projects but it depresses me to know that Amazon does business with the oil and gas industry, " says developer Justin Wang.

"The most user-focused thing we can do is to become a force for social and climate justice . Amazon already knows that we are nothing without our customers and we must ensure that there are still people within 10, 20, 50 or 100 years so they can become customers, "says the copywriter, Brian Colella.

While most of the comments express their dissatisfaction because Amazon does business with companies that work in the field of fossil fuels, others go even further and ask for an end to public contracts with US security forces and bodies .

"Amazon should end our contracts with oil and gas companies ... I also disagree that Amazon Web Services allows Palantir and ICE [the US Customs Immigration and Control Service] to monitor and separate to the children of their parents at the border, "says Rachel Babin, who works in the department of Alexa, Amazon's virtual assistant.

"It is not compatible with a free society"

During the past year, Amazon was forced to recognize that its smart speakers , which use Alexa, violate user privacy. However, Amazon employees themselves have taken advantage of the mobilizations to request the withdrawal of other successful products from the company, such as the surveillance system, Amazon Ring.

"The development of home security cameras whose images are stored centrally is simply not compatible with a free society . Security issues cannot be fixed with regulation and no balance can be reached. Ring should be closed immediately. and should never recover, "protests Software developer Max Eliaser.

Although to a lesser extent, some employees have also expressed their solidarity with warehouse workers , much worse paid and subjected to much harsher conditions than those of the central workers.

"The Amazon supply chain should not be built at the expense of warehouse employees who work at a rate that causes more injuries than the industry average. It is inhumane for people to be afraid of going to the bathroom, " says one comment.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Jeff Bezos
  • U.S

Technology Amazon dismisses four employees who accessed private videos from their clients' cameras

Technology The dangers of sharing an account on Netflix and HBO

DigitalFrance and the US are given 15 days to agree on a Google rate and avoid tariffs