A couple of weeks ago, The Seattle Times ran a scathing article about Amazon.com, alleging uncomfortable and perhaps even unsafe working conditions at some of their warehouses.

According to the article, “an investigation of Amazon’s Pennsylvania warehouse operations last year by the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call…found indoor temperatures soared so high that Amazon had ambulances parked outside to take workers to the hospital.”

There are many other alarming allegations in the article as well – some real jaw droppers – so don’t miss it. But, for some reason, the lack of air conditioning stuck with me. I would never dream of asking one of our employees to work without air conditioning in the summer and all of our employees spend their time sitting at desks, not moving and lifting!!

When we lived in Maine, we didn’t have central air conditioning. Most people and businesses don’t up there. A few years ago, we moved our office to the top floor, and quickly noticed the little window air conditioning units were no longer sufficient. So, we drove to Home Depot and bought a huge monstrosity that was so large we had to hire an electrician to rewire that part of the office just to get it installed and running safely. It weighed several hundred pounds. It was so large, in fact, that when we moved to Florida, we left it there. None of us could figure out how to detach it from the wiring and nobody wanted to carry that monster down two flights of stairs. Yes, it was expensive but we would never force our employees to sweat (or freeze) while working!

Jeff Bezos is a BILLIONAIRE!! He is worth 18.4 BILLION dollars. Instead of putting air conditioning in the ovens his company calls warehouses, he’s blowing his money trying to recover rockets from past space flights. Why?! Where are his priorities? How can he sleep at night in his air-conditioned mansion while his employees are suffering?!

Doesn’t Jeff Bezos consider his employees human beings? Or are they a blue-collar annoyance to him? What kind of person would do this to their employees?!

I just can’t get past this. It’s been bothering me ever since I read that article so I wanted to share it with you today. I haven’t bought anything from Amazon since we sued them back in 2008. We will continue to boycott them for that reason, as well as for the reasons above.

Got questions about Print On Demand and Self-publishing? Ask Angela Hoy.

About The Author

Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).

Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.

WritersWeekly.com - the free marketing ezine for writers, which features new paying markets and freelance job listings every Wednesday.

BookLocker.com - According to attorney Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print, BookLocker is: "As close to perfection as you're going to find in the world of ebook and POD publishing. The ebook royalties are the highest I've ever seen, and the print royalties are better than average. BookLocker understands what new authors experience, and have put together a package that is the best in the business. You can't go wrong here. Plus, they're selective and won't publish any manuscript just because it's accompanied by a check. Also, the web site is well trafficked. If you can find a POD or epublisher with as much integrity and dedication to selling authors' books, but with lower POD publishing fees, please let me know."

Abuzz Press offers FAST and FREE book publication, but only accepts a small percentage of submissions, and only works with U.S. authors.

PubPreppers.com - "We Prep, You Publish!" Print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish. Offers formatting and design services only, and then provides simple instructions for authors on where to sign up to have the print and ebook editions printed/listed/sold. Cut out the middle man. Keep 100% of what bookstores pay for your book!

Angela's POD Secrets Revealed Series can be found HERE.

Have a POD Book with another publisher? See if BookLocker can give you a better deal. (BookLocker offers "disgruntled author discounts" to those who want to move from other POD services.)

See BookLocker's publishing packages HERE.

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Read More Of Angela's Articles HERE