来源：《卫报》
日期：2021年2月21日
“We are not robots” was chosen as the slogan of a campaign against dehumanising work practices at Amazon warehouses. But these days many of Amazon’s employees are, in effect, managed by them. Self-driving robots bring containers to workstations, dictating the rhythm at which items are stacked and sorted. Eliminating walking time for employees has helped Amazon to triple individual output. But the nonstop pace has led to a reported rise in worker injuries.
“我们不是机器人”被选为反对亚马逊仓库不人道工作的运动口号。但如今，亚马逊的许多员工实际上是由机器人管理的。自动驾驶机器人将容器带到工作站，决定物品堆放和分类的节奏。这样做消除了员工的步行时间，帮助亚马逊将个人产出提高了两倍。但据报道，这种不间断的工作节奏导致了工伤事故的增加。
In most mid-20th-century factory environments, such a clear danger to health and safety would have been taken up by the relevant trade union. But in 21st-century of the digital age, Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, have completed the destruction of that old settlement between capital and labour. By aggressively undermining attempts at organising, Amazon has ensured that in the United States, where it employs close to a million people, not a single workplace is unionised.
在20世纪中期的大多数工厂环境中，这种对健康和安全的明显危险本应由相关的工会处理。但在21世纪数字时代，亚马逊创始人兼首席执行官杰夫•贝索斯，已经彻底摧毁了资本和劳动力之间的旧格局。通过积极破坏工人组织工会的尝试，亚马逊确保了在其雇佣近100万人的美国，没有一个工作场所加入工会。
All of which makes a ballot taking place in the small, blue-collar town of Bessemer, Alabama, a signal event in the evolution of big-tech capitalism. After overcoming last-minute legal obstacles placed in their way by Amazon, 5,800 employees at its Bessemer warehouse have until the end of March to vote on whether they wish to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Pay at the warehouse is more than double Alabama’s minimum wage, but shifts are 10 hours long, with two 30-minute breaks. One pro-union worker told the New York Times she hoped it would lead to a better break for lunch, and the freedom to stretch or go to the toilet without falling behind on her daily quota. These are aspirations that should shame a company that last year amassed $386bn (£275bn) in revenue, and is run by the richest man in the world. But they don’t.
所有这一切使得在阿拉巴马州的蓝领小镇贝西默举行的投票成为大科技资本主义演变中的一个标志性事件。在克服了亚马逊在最后一刻设置的法律障碍后，贝西默仓库的5800名员工必须在3月底之前投票决定，他们是否希望由零售、批发和百货商店工会(RWDSU)代表自己。亚马逊仓库的工资是阿拉巴马州最低工资的两倍多，但轮班时间为10小时，中间有两次30分钟的休息时间。一名支持工会的员工告诉《纽约时报》，她希望这样可以让自己在午餐时有更好的休息时间，也可以自由地伸展身体或上厕所，而不会耽误自己的每日任务。对于一家去年营收达到3860亿美元(合2750亿英镑)、由全球首富执掌的公司来说，这些渴望应该让它感到羞愧。但亚马逊没有。
Instead, Amazon has resorted to bullying. Bessemer’s mainly black workforce has been subjected to an anti-union campaign. At mandatory meetings, employees have reportedly been told they may lose benefits if they join the RWDSU. Misinformation has been spread regarding union membership fees. Anti-union text messages have been sent to workers’ phones.
相反，亚马逊采取了欺凌手段。贝西默以黑人为主的劳动力遭受了一场反工会运动。据报道，在强制性会议上，员工被告知，如果加入RWDSU工会，他们可能会失去福利。关于工会会员费的错误信息已经散播开来。反工会短信已经发到工人的手机上。
If Bessemer votes yes to a union, a vital precedent will have been set. But regardless of the outcome, Amazon’s determination to retain oppressive control over every aspect of its employees’ working lives should trouble those of us who benefit from the delights of same-day delivery.
如果贝西默投票赞成成立工会，就会开创一个至关重要的先例。但无论结果如何，亚马逊对员工工作生活的方方面面保持压制性控制的决心，都会让我们这些受益于当日送达喜悦的人感到忧虑。
More broadly, Bessemer’s Amazon workers should be seen as pioneers in the necessary task of restoring collective bargaining in post-industrial liberal democracies. In the US, as union membership has slumped, the adjusted average hourly wage has barely shifted from $20.27 in 1964 to $22.65 in 2018. Over roughly the same period, high earners saw their share of US aggregate income almost double. The loss is not merely financial. As academics such as Robert Putnam and Michael Lind have recently argued, unions also generate a sense of solidarity and collective self-esteem.
说得更宏大些，贝西默的亚马逊员工应该被视为在后工业化自由民主国家恢复集体谈判这一必要任务的先驱。在美国，随着工会成员人数下降，调整后的平均时薪几乎没有变化，从1964年的20.27美元升至2018年的22.65美元。在大约同一时期，高收入者在美国总收入中所占比例几乎翻了一番。损失不仅仅是经济上的。正如罗伯特•帕特南和迈克尔•林德等高校学者最近指出的那样，工会还能产生一种团结感和集体自尊感。
Not far from Bessemer, Rosa Parks ignited the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The dignity of labour in the digital economy of the 21st century is also something worth fighting for. Whatever their decision next month, the Amazon workers of Bessemer should be celebrated for making their voices heard.
在离贝西默不远的蒙哥马利，黑人妇女罗莎·帕克斯在公共汽车上拒绝给白人让座，从而点燃了民权运动的火焰。在21世纪的数字经济中，工人的尊严也是值得争取的。无论下个月他们做出什么决定，贝赛默的亚马逊工人们发出了自己的声音，我们都应该为他们歌颂。