If most workers there are are paid less than $20/hr now and demanding $30/hr as a starting wage, why wouldn’t Amazon just move much of this operation to other FCs, including Wilmington Air Park, only 50 miles to the north-east?
At some point, Amazon customers are only willing to pay so much. Unless Amazon gets far more productivity per person-hour than its competitors, it can’t afford to pay wildly more than its competitors are paying.
You keep attempting to unionize everywhere Amazon attempts to go. No great loss if consumers don’t receive consumer excess via Amazon purchases. And as long as the right to organize is protected by the federal government, there’s no reason to not continue to attempt to exercise those rights in a labor supply constrained macro.
Sure, those rights should be protected, and unions can continue to be organized, but it seems like a lot of people end up losing out here as union organizers slowly chase Amazon FCs around the US.
Amazon’s innovation was abusing its FC and delivery network workers with abhorrent work conditions. Short term, some economic rearrangement will occur, long term hopefully these conditions improve with union representation. It’s the only way for these workers to improve these working conditions for themselves.
If Amazon service declines, or parts of the business aren’t sustainable, as I mentioned, no great loss. People having jobs that allow them to live with some dignity and control over their work environment is superior to the American consumer getting more consumer goods shoveled into their living room at the lowest price possible.
There will always be non-Amazon jobs, and if Amazon is the only employer in town, that’s a policy failure to be patched.
For the average person working at any job, they have some reason to think that’s their best option.
The risk of taking away their best option in hopes that someone else in another town will get a better option will appeal to some, but far from all, as they cast their organizing ballot.
I would say that the reality is somewhat looser. Their investment in easily in the 100s of billions. At that price, replacing workers should a strike be called is pretty feasible.
Unions can, and often do, overplay their hands when negotiating. Adversarial systems, and competitive unions force unions to demand best of industry contracts at every corporation they go to.
To draw a football analogy, every unions wants a Christian Kirk contract, and every contract after that must be a Christian Kirk^2 contract.
At some point, Amazon customers are only willing to pay so much. Unless Amazon gets far more productivity per person-hour than its competitors, it can’t afford to pay wildly more than its competitors are paying.