Half a trillion dollars a year in revenue. Hundreds of cross-continental facilities. And an army of 1.5 million employees. Amazon is more than just a retail giant – it’s an e-commerce empire. But behind its success lies a story as old as capitalism itself: the mass exploitation of workers. And, through the use of surveillance, Amazon has taken this to new heights.
This year, workers at the corporation’s Coventry and Rugeley warehouses in England took formal strike action for the first time in their history. The Coventry warehouse was built on the site of the former Jaguar Land Rover Factory while Rugeley was built on a former coal mine. These sites of struggle tell a story about the changing nature of work. Where there was once strongly unionized and stable employment, there are now low-paid, insecure jobs.
Work in the warehouses is fast-paced. Amazon employees are on their feet for 10 hours a
