E-Commerce

Article: Dot-com Workers Prep First Union Vote

Source: E-Commerce Times

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/5578.html

Summary:

Workers at two e-commerce sites are considering to vote for union representation. This is debate may be a new trend in e-commerce business, as the hacker-generation who comprise a large portion start to look for job security, better pay, and the respect and benefits offered workers with similar skill levels in other business fields.

Union officials have quoted that the decision is up to the workers to decide whether this move is required or not.

Meanwhile, companies like Amazon.com are pressuring their workers not to go union, because union representation often requires pay rate increases for its employees, as well as added paperwork, and bargaining for benefits that spell reduced productivity.

It may also be speculated that this is a result of the recent economic problems that e-commerce has been facing, with unstable profit margins, marketing disasters, and disenchanted consumers. Is this the real motivation for companies like Amazon to fight the growing demands of their employees?

Response:

This recent article describes some of the business problems facing E-commerce today. The prospect of union representation for the maturing hacker-generation threatens the already unstable e-business market.

Issues such as job security, adequate job descriptions, employment benefits, and negotiable wages are going to be very key in deciding Union involvement in a very new and promising job market. This may have unseen effects on the market, taking elements of entrepreneurial danger out, but also taking away opportunities for larger profits, larger salaries, and the initiative to succeed.

I give this article 4 out of 5 stars for usefulness as a quick reference, and 3 out of 5 stars for completeness of content.

Dot-Com Workers Prep First Union Vote
By Nora Macaluso
E-Commerce Times
November 29, 2000

Workers at Etown.com and ShopAudioVideo.com will become the first dot-com employees to vote on whether to have union representation.

The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Monday seeking an election, after getting approval from about 70 percent of the two companies' 36 customer service representatives. Under NLRB rules, an election is required if 30 percent of the employees ask for one.

"Workers, whether new economy or old economy, have the same issues, " local union representative Erin Tyson Poh told the E-Commerce Times.

Voicing Concerns

Among the issues the employees want addressed are job stability and security, clear job descriptions, better pay and a voice in workplace decision-making, Poh said.

The vote is expected to take place following a December 6th hearing before the NLRB.

Steve Ramirez, vice president of marketing at Etown, said company officials still have not seen the petition and therefore are not able to comment on specifics. "We're operating a little bit blind here," he said.

"The issue of a union is obviously up to the employees," Ramirez told the E-Commerce Times. "We're going to continue with our standard practice [of being] open to employee input. We have had a really successful open-door policy."

Etown.com, an Internet-based home electronics reviewer, and ShopAudioVideo.com, a home electronics e-tailer, are affiliates of San Francisco, California-based Collaborative Media, Inc.

Amazon Pressure

The announcement should give heart to customer service workers at Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), who are hoping to use the busy holiday season to build support for their proposed union. Workers at the Internet giant are busy gathering signatures to call a union vote.

The drive is targeting customer-service workers at the company's Seattle, Washington headquarters, but organizers are also reaching out to distribution and warehouse workers in other parts of the country.

Amazon employees have voiced complaints similar to those at Etown, saying that mandatory overtime, schedule changes with no notice, and minimal time off during the holidays are adding pressure to a workplace that is already tense.

Additionally, Amazon customer service representatives make US$10 an hour to start, which workers say is not enough in the expensive Seattle region.

Honeymoon Over

"The past two years have been kind of a honeymoon for e-commerce," said Poh. Now, as e-commerce companies face pressures to show profits and keep their businesses going, the "patina of glamor" associated with new-economy jobs is fading, Poh said.

Since the Collaborative Media workers began their organizing drive in October, four employees have lost their jobs, said the union, which filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. Two lost their jobs after a sick-out in October, and another two were fired after collecting signatures for the union vote, said Poh.

Management's "open-door policy obviously only went so far," Poh added.

Poh told the E-Commerce Times that the Collaborative Media workers were trying to deal with management, but felt "as if they just weren't getting backing."

Poh also said the employees believe they are "working harder, faster, longer" without adequate job descriptions and corresponding pay scales.