ONT6 Feb 5 update

Open Letter

This is an open letter from an Amazon.com tier 1 Associate who works at the Ontario 6 Fulfillment Center in Moreno Valley, California. My name is Mark Oglesby (login: moglesby) and I am on the Committee to Unionize the Ontario 6 Fulfillment Center which will happen sooner or later and so I believe that we cannot be stopped! And it is concerning this subject that I would like to address my fellow Associates, Process Assistants, Area Managers, Operations managers, Senior Operations Managers, General Manager and all other Amazon.com operatives around the globe: For your approval or not!

To whoever believes in decency; supposes that people need not be whipped in order for them to work hard, have fun and make history! Please, just for one moment, indulge this senior citizen writing to you about his experiences at Amazon.com; the most unmanageable, uncontainable if not irresponsible company in all of creation. And when I say unmanageable, uncontainable if not irresponsible, I mean a place where rules, policies, regulations, standards, ways and means are regarded as little or nothing to anyone in leadership as the bureaucracy of Shock & Awe attempts to keep everyone under its stringent control.

Imagine if you will a work place which emphatically endeavors itself to actually cause the failure of any and all persons employed at its various sites. A place of employment which causes harm instead of relief, pain instead of joy, misery instead of cheerfulness; a place where contentment and its pleasure is really genuine sadness instead of a happy worker who looks forward to a new functioning, effective day. To the pale, this is all true!

Envision a laborious environment where merely going to the restroom to relive oneself can get you written-up for Time Off Task (TOT) and possibly walked to the door! An atmosphere where a simply number controls your very employment destiny. You are not judged on how hard you work! How much you give to the company and its customers! Where you are always on time, ready to go and prepared to do whatever’s necessary for a successful conclusion! You are in point of fact, the perfect employee. Sorry to say: You are a number expected to get a certain number and if your number’s not there your number (excuse the pun) is up!

It is the purpose of those weekly letters to detail many of the actual occasions when and where people, that is, workers who are in point of fact actual people, are ruthlessly handled by their management bent on their own advancement if not controllable path up the ladder of success on the broken backs of those who suffer the indignity if not brutalization of merely attempting to get by and hopefully remain employed. Who must needlessly shudder each and every week when final rates are posted and write-ups are given out in abundance. Where one might ask oneself: “Will I be able to care for myself and my loved ones?” A most uneasy path here at Ontario 6.

Furthermore, it is the steadfast determination of said senior citizen to chronicle the behavior of those who would inspire fear and anxiety in the daily lives of people who truly matter. People who are not numbers but human beings deserving dignity! People who are not disposable commodities who’s life span is that of a cigarette lighter whose fuel runs out and is thrown into some city landfill. No! We matter as we are worthy of treatment befitting our status once again as dignified human beings! To the point:

I once knew a man who always worked hard here at Ontario 6. And what was it that caused him to work so hard? In short, he had a beloved family; a kind woman and joyfully laughing children; one of which was a brand-new baby girl. I know, my wife and I gave them a gift for their brand-new baby girl. And my was she, the mother of this baby girl, ever so pleased when her daughter had grown enough to actually wear this gift given to her by my wife and I.

Anyway, this hard working fellow came forward with a bad back due to walking so many miles in the Fulfillment Center as he was what we call a Picker, that is, someone who picks customer orders and walks for ten hours a day non-stop day after day; week after week; month after month and so on and so forth to where he merely requested a transfer to someplace where he didn’t have to walk so much.

And yes, he was transferred! BUT! He was constantly moved back to pick where he once again had to walk and walk and walk continually harming his back while harming his numbers as well. He once said to me: “I’m afraid I’m going to be written-up and fired because of this! And I was just about caught up on the rent.” Shortly thereafter, he just disappeared! As so many before and after him, he just disappeared! I weep!

Whatever happened to this man and his family is a disgrace and a shame on us all! And why? Because we all stand back due to our fears as we are frightened that it might become US who is thrown out on the street and left for dead! That it might be ME who is targeted for termination here at TheAmazon! So than, what am I to do?

I must overcome my fears and realize that I do not matter to these people who run Ontario 6 and so many other Fulfillment Centers throughout the earth. That I am but a number on the screen of their lap-tops whose vision is but a number on the screen. To the point: I am no longer a human being that matters and therefore not subject to treatment befitting a human being. In short, I am nothing but an avenue for their advancement.

To a certainty! Why than should I fear what might become of me? For as a matter of fact, I am damned if I do and damned if I don’t! No matter what I do I am always under judgment of the number! Therefore I face what my friend faced: disappearance at any moment! That long hard fall where I am forced to go home and explain to those in my care that we are all vetted for disappearance! What’s to become of us? What am I to say? How did this happen? God dammit! Who is to blame? For whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee!

In point of fact, we have nothing to fear! This being the case we can now stand up and demand our very personhood that is our divine right as human beings! We are the backbone of this and every company on the face of the earth. We are the workers who get the job done! Amazon.com and so many companies like it depend on our labor to make their profit. Without us they are crippled! They are nothing!

And so than, how should we demonstrate our newborn freedom from fear? We should organize ourselves willingly and establish a union; an organization designed to collectively bargain as one yet many whereas numbers now matter on our behalf. And let it be known! We shall prevail! As in the words of the great American folk artist Woody Guthrie: You can’t scare me I’m sticking to the Union:

There once was a union maid, she never was afraid

Of goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.

She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called,

And when the Legion boys come 'round

She always stood her ground.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,

I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,

I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

This union maid was wise to the tricks of company spies,

She couldn't be fooled by a company stool, she'd always organize the guys.

She always got her way when she struck for better pay.

She'd show her card to the National Guard

And this is what she'd say

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,

I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,

I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me;

Get you a man who's a union man and join the ladies' auxiliary.

Married life ain't hard when you got a union card,

A union man has a happy life when he's got a union wife.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,

I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,

I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

Sorry Ontario 6 and Amazon.com in general: You can’t scare me I’m sticking to the Union until we the workers who actually bring money into the company through our labor are given our legal, yea, divine right to a secret ballot of yes or no to the Union and collective bargaining.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Mark Oglesby (login: moglesby)