The Dark Side Of Jeff Bezos' Flight To Space

Jeff Bezos in New Shepard (Instagram/@blueorigin)

JAKARTA - Jeff Bezos made history on Tuesday, July 20 yesterday. He managed to go into space and return safely. He thanked the Amazon employees and customers he said paid for the trip. Human rights activists used the momentum to raise the gloomy labor issue in the Amazon.

Jeff Bezos' journey to the edge of outer space and a return landing was carried out by Jeff Bezos aboard the New Shepard spacecraft, which his company, Blue Origin, developed more than two decades ago.

On that trip, Jeff Bezos not only made personal records. With him on the trip were former pilot Wally Funk, 82, and teenager Oliver Daemen, 18.

They became the oldest and youngest people to travel in space. In addition, the trip was also taken by Jeff Bezos with his brother, 53-year-old Mark Bezos.

After a flight that lasted about ten minutes, the capsule he was in landed in West Texas at around 8:22 am local time. New Shepard passes through the Karman line, which is considered the edge of space at an altitude of one hundred kilometers above Earth.

At the end of the trip, Jeff Bezos said, "Best day ever ... My expectations were high and dramatically exceeded," Jeff Bezos said, quoted by Business Insider.

Jeff Bezos: you guys paid for all this

Upon reaching zero gravity, the crew appears to be floating inside the capsule. Wally Funk expressed his admiration while looking at the Earth beneath his window. "Oh my, look at the world!"

In his first post-landing interview, Jeff Bezos said, "I'm not talented enough to put this into words."

At a loss for words to describe what he witnessed, Jeff Bezos simply said: Maybe we need to send a poet or something. Someone who would be better at describing it.

Jeff Bezos also thanked Amazon employees and customers. "I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you paid for all of this," said Jeff Bezos.

"So, to every Amazon customer out there and every Amazon employee, thank you from the bottom of my heart," he added.

Jeff Bezos in New Shepard (Instagram/@blueorigin)

Jeff Bezos also talked about money in his future, about why he invested that much money in space. "What we're doing is building a path to outer space so that future generations can build the future," said Jeff Bezos.

"Slowly over decades, to move all heavy industry and polluting industries into space to keep this planet a gem," he added.

Jeff Bezos also reveals the touch he gets when looking at Earth from above. The experience was pleasant as well as reconciling. But Jeff Bezos also said, seeing the fragility of the earth is the most profound thing he has encountered from above.

Labor issues at Amazon

Photo illustration (Bryan Angelo/Unsplash)

Espionage

In November 2020, the New York Post published a report on the spy network Amazon has to monitor its workforce around the world. The espionage network also keeps tabs on Amazon's business threats.

The spies were recruited by Amazon from third parties, including agents from Pinkerton, a private spy agency that also provides security services in the United States (US). Strict controls are in place in Europe.

This was revealed from documents studied by the New York Post. The document also says the espionage agenda is largely aimed at ensuring employees stay in line with the company's vision.

The issue of espionage is one of the highlights of Amnesty International. Apart from espionage, Amnesty International also noted other problems. One of them is for Jeff Bezos to allow Amazon employees to unionize.

Prohibition of Association

Freedom of association for Amazon employees is an old demand. But Jeff Bezos seems to really hate it. Amazon management's consistent formation of trade unions is something that will never be tolerated.

Amazon is known to often fire workers who try to form a union. In January 2001 Amazon closed its call center division in Seattle due to strong demands for union formation.

Most recently, in early 2020, Christian Smalls, a warehouse worker, was fired for leading a strike on Staten Island. A trade union in the Amazon has actually been formed in Germany. But the company considers it illegal.

Employee welfare

Amazon is known to often apply rules that are against the welfare of employees. Employees who bring private vehicles to work are charged a parking fee.

In the warehouse section, Amazon employees are charged with a point system. If employees are late for work, they are rewarded with half a point. When employees are absent, even if they are sick, they will be rewarded with three points.

In addition, workers whose performance does not meet expectations will be rewarded with a number of points according to certain criteria. And if an employee has recorded six points, Amazon doesn't hesitate to fire him.

Warehouse employees are the most crucial for Amazon. Brad Stone, in The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (2013) explains, despite being labeled a high-tech company, Amazon's crucial side is in the warehouse.

Warehouse employees are responsible for ensuring product availability, processing orders, and taking care of various administrative issues. Even so, the warehouse workers are paid cheaply.

On average, they are paid 10-12 US dollars per hour without health insurance. "Only 10 to 15 percent of all warehouse workers are permanent employees," explains Stone's book.

In 2020, Amazon was also caught hiding 19,816 employees who were exposed to the coronavirus. This was revealed according to the company's confession after heavy pressure. This figure is believed to be much lower than the reality.

Refuse to raise worker's wages

Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Amazon is unlike many other companies in the world that have been hit hard by the pandemic. They actually made a big profit. People are forced to use technology to survive, especially shopping. Employees and customers seem to really pay for Jeff Bezos' flight.

Quoted from the BBC, April 2021, Amazon's revenue rose from 75 billion US dollars to 108.5 billion US dollars for the last three months, closed in March 2021. The increase in revenue came from many aspects that Amazon played.

Apart from being e-commerce, technology giants are also growing massively in the video streaming market. It is estimated that Amazon's profits will continue in the months ahead. Even so, Amazon is known to be efficient in employee salaries.

In 2020, 400 US politicians urged Amazon to raise employee wages. Amazon's average salary is considered too low. Companies are considered capable of paying more to boost state tax revenues.

But Jeff Bezos had refused. The situation has continued to develop since then. Jeff Bezos, who has now resigned from the position of CEO of Amazon, reportedly began to feel stifled by criticism from politicians. He expressed dissatisfaction with the work of Amazon executives in response to criticism he called heretical and false.

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