A first-person account of work in an Amazon fulfillment center. In a commentary in Sahan Journal, Safiyo Mohamed writes: “This is my story about how Amazon dehumanizes its workers for the sake of profit. The biggest Amazon fulfillment center in the state is the Shakopee warehouse: In company language, it’s called ‘MSP1.’ When Amazon hired me and more than 50 other people in 2016, we joined over a thousand people already working there. … My first day was very exciting because I was really happy I got my first job in the United States. When I started at Amazon, I was 22 years old and had lived in the U.S. for just three months. I was a newcomer. My family members knew some people who worked there and that is how I found out about the job and ended up there. I didn’t have any family or friends working at MSP1, but after I started, I made a lot of friends.”
A little more green from Big Red. The Star Tribune’s Nicole Norfleet reports: “Target has announced another round of bonuses for its store employees, including seasonal hires who helped during the busy holidays. … Bonuses of $500 will be given to hourly employees in stores, distribution centers and at the company’s Minneapolis headquarters and field-based offices. Store directors, executive team leaders and salaried distribution center leaders will receive a bonus ranging from $1,000 to $2,000, according to a company blog post Monday morning. … The one-time bonuses add up to a $200 million investment from the company.”
In other news…
Well … all right: “Iowa’s Surf Ballroom, site of Buddy Holly’s last concert, is named National Historic Landmark” [Star Tribune]
Congratulations: “Minnesota authors take home honors at prestigious American Library Association Youth Awards” [Pioneer Press]
Laughter’s the best medicine: “How Maria Bamford Learned to Laugh Through the Pain” [Mpls.St.Paul]
Today on MinnPost
- Pandemic related disruptions to the meat supply chain has a lot of people wondering if the system is too centralized. Some in Minnesota want to change that by building up more medium-sized processors.
- Lockdown dogs are a thing, and probably a good thing given all the mental-health benefits these furry friends can bring.
- The U.S. Capitol riot caused some corporations to rethink their political giving. Don’t expect that to last.
- For a long time the place for serious skaters to get ice skates was a small shop in St. Paul: Strauss.
- Eric Black: ‘Trump’s American Carnage’ looks back at what we just survived”
- Community Voices commentary by Steve Timmer: “The power to pardon should be the governor’s”
- Community Voices commentary by John Champe: “Minnesota should vaccinate teachers next”
