Book Review: Working in the Context of Austerity

Abstract

employs many blue-collar workers, who are concentrated in fulfilment and sortation centres (Chapter 12, p. 196). Many chapters therefore discuss the organising and mobilising efforts of these workers. The effectiveness of this strategy has been seriously limited, however, because of ‘network redundancy’, as Chapter 7 explains very well. Given the number of fulfilment centres and the strongly data-driven processes, a strike or disruption in one centre will have little effect on customer services overall, as orders are easily rerouted to other centres. To really put pressure on Amazon, coordinated action is therefore required. The need for such (international) coordination is underlined in many of the chapters in this book (for example, Introduction, p. 12; Chapter 2, p. 46; Chapter 7, p. 126; Chapter 13; Chapter 16, p. 259; Conclusion), but none of them really go deep enough into the immense challenge of internationally organising a blue-collar workforce with a high turnover rate. Given that such a mobilisation strategy might be very difficult to implement, other strategies could focus on other weak points, such as organising the ‘last mile’ drivers or creating disruption among tech workers. Indeed, the book gives examples of successful campaigns among tech workers to change Amazon’s environmental policy. While this clearly shows the potential of organising these workers, it also indicates that the issues that matter to them differ substantially from those important to the blue-collar warehouse workers or drivers. As a European scholar, I feel the need to stress the obvious impact and importance of legal rules on workers’ participation in this context. While the US stories of organising at Amazon are clearly resourceand time-intensive, and led to local successes, the European stories are about organising a whole series of distribution centres and engaging in coordinated strikes. Europe’s laws on workers’ participation give it a head start: the legal requirement to establish works councils or negotiate with trade unions provide much easier access to workplaces, enabling much more effective organisation drives. This review does not do justice to all the book’s insights. All in all, it is the perfect introduction for any labour-oriented reader to the world of Amazon. The only points of criticism I would raise are (i) the lack of a more in-depth analysis of transnational unionism and organising, and (ii) the omission of a chapter on Amazon’s union-busting efforts in various countries. The last issue is touched upon in a number of chapters, but given the international criticism the company is currently being subjected to in this area a lot more could be said. The only thing that you, the reader, must now do is order the book. You can get it fairly cheaply via Amazon, and with next-day delivery if you’re a member of Amazon Prime.