Cashing On Chips
The pandemic has seen big corporations, e-commerce businesses and MNCs boom while the economies of countries continue to grapple with the fragile market. With the daily wage workers being the most affected, many people from the middle-class section of the society also remain jobless.
Amazons stock has risen significantly over the last few months. Recently, the company purchased MGM, the iconic Hollywood studio for $8.5 billion! Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, an aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company, also flew to space accomplishing an incredible feat but also causing an uproar among the fellow earthlings.
PepsiCo, another American company did really well as its net revenue in the second quarter increased by 20.5% to $19.2 billion compared to last year. Companies like Amazon and PepsiCo employ thousands of people but while these corporations continue to reap profits, their employees work in harsh conditions, earn poor wages or both.
THE THREE-WEEK PROTEST AT THE FRITO-LAY FACTORY IN KANSAS
Frito-Lays Topeka Plant workers went on a 20 day strike due to harsh and unfair working conditions. The strike began on 5th July, a day after the country celebrated its Declaration of Independence and concluded on the 25th with the company promising to grant their workers a guaranteed day off, do away with the 12 hours shifts and increase their wages.
More than 500 workers went on a strike. The workers were made to work long shifts, seven days a week and were unhappy with their wages. The employees also had to work in scorching conditions with some protesters claiming that the heat in the warehouse was much more than that outside.
This protest is the first of its kind that the company has witnessed in three decades. Frito-Lay stated that the claims about the work hours were grossly exaggerated and that they have been continuously hiring part-time and full-time workers at Topeka.
SUICIDE SHIFTS
Many workers complained about the shifts, some having to do double or triple shifts or complete an 84-hour work week which were dubbed as ‘Suicide Shifts’ by the employees.
“People that work 7 days a week, 12-hour shifts, sometimes they have to pull a ‘suicide’ which is you are off at 11 AM but you have to come back at 7 PM,” said Evie Williams who works at the Topeka plant.
Some workers were allowed to have only eight-hour breaks between shifts which enabled them to spend very little time with their families. The workers had to pull off these kinds of shifts for the entire week.
“You leave here at 7 PM and they want you back in here at 3 o’clock in the morning. That’s not fair. We need time with our families, we need time with our children,” said Esther Fanning who also works at the same plant.
The employees have gone years without a raise and have been on a stagnant pay check.
“You have people in this building that’s been here for over 25 years and I’ve been here for 37 and they’re still forcing those people, and myself, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Mark McCarter who was present at the protest.
#BOYCOTTFRITOLAY
146-miles south, residents of Wichita decided to boycott PepsiCo products. Frito-Lay is a subsidiary of PepsiCo and it also owns other popular brands such as Lipton, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Quaker, Doritos, etc. A food truck owner also stated that they wouldn’t sell PepsiCo products until the issue was resolved.
The hashtag BOYCOTTFRITOLAY was also trending on twitter for a few days with some people bashing the company for its inhumane treatment of its employees.
ELECTROCUTED AND SPIED UPON
Twitter also saw the video by More Perfect Union go viral as it showcased the struggles of Brandon Ingram who started working in the Frito-Lay factory in 2011. The 36-year-old got electrocuted while using the dock-door at the factory in 2016 and has had to file for long term disability. He is now suing Frito-Lay.
Brandon was a part of the US Navy before joining Frito-Lay. At Frito-Lay, he used to work very hard, many a times even 20 hours a day which almost caused his wife, Melissa Ingram, to divorce him.
“No, I did not believe my husband just spent 20 hours at work, no one would believe that, he’s not a doctor, it’s chips!” she said.
Brandon got electrocuted while pushing the button of the dock-door at the factory on 2nd October in 2016. He was taken to a hospital which was 45 minutes away. They had to cross four other hospitals on the way to reach this certain hospital because the company had signed a contract with them.
After the surgery, one would assume that Brandon would be given some time off to recover but that wasn’t the case. He struggled to walk and was badly in pain, yet the company called him back to work. Brandon then went on to call off that day as a sick day.
The 36-year-old had to get a surgery done to remove two discs from his neck as it caused less blood flow to his brain. He had to file for long-term disability, which was approved months later and he had no income coming in. Brandon also had to pay for everything from his own pocket because Frito-Lay had cut off his insurance. He didn’t have the money for any medical treatment or appointments.
“I borrowed money or used credit cards, or whatever I could. I even took money out of my kids’ piggy bank,” he said breaking down.
The doctor who was treating Brandon asked him to pay only half for every visit and that they could see about the rest later after noticing his struggles.
Brandon went on the sue Frito-Lay.
“I never wanted to have a lawsuit. It’s just not me. But I did ask for help and I wasn’t getting it,” he said.
Frito-Lay had people stalking and secretly recording footage of Brandon and his family to use it against him in court and prove that he was fine to disrupt his case.
They recorded his kids playing in the front yard, his wife doing yard work, followed them on the highway and streets. They followed his wife when she gave birth to their baby and even to their daughter’s school. This made Melissa pull her daughter out of school and home-school her because she didn’t feel safe. The family was disgusted by the actions of Frito-Lay.
“Billion-dollar corporations like Pepsi, which owns Frito-Lay, they know that this is happening to people and they do nothing about it. My husband shouldn’t have to fight for five years over something that took less than five minutes to affect our entire live,” said Melissa.
“The company makes over $200 billion dollars a year, ok? It’s chips but my husband is worth $0 to them because he’s no longer able to push those chips,” she added.
The company not only drained Brandon while he worked at the factory but also used sickening measures to downplay a family that was hurting financially for which it received a lot of flak across social media.
“You are a number. You’re a piece of property. I bust my butt for them. Blood, sweat, tears, sacrifices, holidays, birthdays. I missed so many family things because they make you feel like if you don’t do what they say, they will let you go,” said Brandon.
RESOLUTION
The 20-day long protest resulted in Frito-Lay guaranteeing its employees a day off per week. Over the next two years, they will also receive a 4% raise in their wages.
Not every one was happy with the contract that was offered but the workers accepted it because they were running out of money and didn’t have any insurance as per Yahoo news.
INFLATION
While the workers will see a small rise in their earnings it might not make much of an impact. The US saw its inflation accelerate in June at its fastest pace in 13 years.
The prices of food and groceries have gone up which will once again, affect daily-wage workers the most. However, worker shortages and pushing up of wages could keep inflation elevated in the country according to a Reuters report.
AMAZON UNION BUST
Earlier in April, Amazon managed to quash the efforts of the formation of a union after winning sufficient votes in the union election in Alabama.
Amazons Bessemer warehouse in Alabama which is one of the company’s largest warehouses saw a portion of its employees fight for the unionization. The company may be paying its employees double the minimum wage ($15.30 per hour) that the state of Alabama offers but have cried foul over the working conditions.
So how did something that would’ve potentially helped the workers spectacularly fail? Amazon unleashed a brutal campaign to get its employees to vote ‘No’ in the election. They would make their staff attend presentations, aired anti-union ads, placed signs in the bathrooms asking the workers to vote ‘No’ and also sent them texts and leaflets.
Another hilarious tactic that the e-commerce giant opted was to create fake twitter accounts of people claiming to be its employees and stating their love for amazon and why unions were bad.
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), the union that led the campaign alleged that Amazon prevented a free and fair election. In their filings to the National Labour Relations Board, they claimed that Amazon threatened their workers with lay-offs, loss of benefits and even closing the facility.
However, the workers may get to vote once again after a federal labour official found Amazon’s anti-union persuasion methods just enough to affect the elections.