※警語: 以下為不專業翻譯。
https://qz.com/1763226/
Amazon is struggling to hold on to the pilots who ship your packages
Amazon 正在掙扎著留下運送你包裹的機師
By Amrita Khalid December 7, 2019
Amazon's promise of one-day shipping has led it to increasingly rely
on its own air cargo division, Amazon Air. But as the number of
shipments pushed through the cargo arm multiplies, the pilots who fly
those packages continue to voice that they are overworked and
underpaid.
Amazon 承諾的一日內運達使得它必須日漸倚賴它的空運部門 Amazon Air。但貨
運倍數成長的同時，機師一直發聲指出超時工作和低薪的問題。
The pilots don't work for Amazon directly, but are employed by the
contractors Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) and Atlas Air. More
than 200 cargo pilots who fly for ABX Air, which is a division of
ATSG, cast a vote of “no confidence” against management's ability to
resolve ongoing labor disputes, reported Reuters earlier this week. In
total, all but one member of the pilot's union voted “Yes” on a
resolution that asked if they had “no confidence in management's
willingness to negotiate or reach an agreement for the benefit of all
stakeholders to include the shareholders, the customers, and the
employees.”
機師不是直接受僱於 Amazon, 而是受僱於承包商 ATSG 和 Altas Air。本週稍
早，路透社報導，超過兩百名為 ATSG 子部門 ABX Air 執飛的貨機機師，對於
管理階層解決勞資爭議的能力投下了不信任票。對於管理階層為所有利益關係人
，包括股東，客戶，和員工的利益，談判或達成協議的意願，是否沒有信心的一
項投票，工會中除了一票以外，全部都投了同意。
The pilot union, the Airline Professionals Association, has battled
with the management of ATSG for five years to negotiate new work rules
for its pilots. Issues involving how pilots are scheduled for their
routes, salaries, and retirement still remain unresolved.
機師工會 APA 為了談判新的工作條件，已和 ATSG 抗爭了五年。包括機師如何
安排航線，薪水、和退休計劃等的議題仍未得到解決。
Those who fly for Atlas Air, another cargo operator used by Amazon,
recently lost a three-year bid to secure a new work contract. Atlas
pilots protested outside an airport in Cincinnati, Ohio for better
workplace conditions in April. And in February, Atlas pilot crashed an
Amazon Air flight, killing all three of its occupants, which some have
suggested was linked to its staff being overworked.
為 Amazon 另一家營運商 Altas Air 執飛的機師，最近丟了一份三年期標案而
無法簽下新的工作合約。四月 Altas 機師在俄亥俄辛辛那提一個機場外示威，
爭取更好的工作條件。二月 Altas 機師摔了一架 Amazon Air 的飛機，機上三
人全部喪命的事件，部份人士暗示和它的員工過勞有關。
Pilots at both airlines have complained about low morale, low pay, and
poor workplace retention. Such troubles are brewing during a global
pilot shortage, and many well-trained pilots who work for Atlas and
ABX have simply left for better opportunities. A union survey earlier
this year found that 60% of the pilots who work for the three airlines
employed by Amazon (ABX Air, Atlas Air, and another called Southern
Air) are looking for work elsewhere.
兩家公司的機師都抱怨士氣低落、薪資低、流動率高。在全球機師短缺的背景原
因下，Altas 和 ABX 訓練良好的機師自然向外尋找更好的工作機會。稍早工會
調查指出，為三家 Amazon 承包商(ATSG, Altas 和另一家叫南方航空的公司)工
作的機師，60% 在尋找跳槽機會。
“We still have very experienced high quality pilots leaving for other
carriers because they have better pay and better schedules,” Rick
Ziebarth, an ABX Air pilot and executive council chairman of Airline
Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224, told Quartz. Ziebarth
argued that as a result of well-trained pilots leaving, ABX is forced
to hire people with far less experience who require more training.
Quartz has reached out to Amazon for comment on the matter.
ABX 機師及APA Teamster Local 1224 分會主席 Rick Ziebarth 告訴 Qz 說，
我們仍然有老練的機師為了更好的待遇和班表而離開到其他公司去。Ziebarth說
，為了填補老練機師離去的空缺，ABX 不得不雇用經驗值不足，仍需要訓練的人
。Qz 稍後聯絡了 Amazon 徵求對於此事的評論。
Worker grievances appear to have cropped up in every leg of Amazon's
supply chain. Amazon's warehouse workers were found to suffer injuries
at twice the national average of other warehouse workers, according to
an investigation from Reveal. Delivery drivers for Amazon Flex, who
are considered independent contractors by Amazon, work long hours with
no chance of earning overtime or benefits.
Amazon 供應鏈的每個部門似乎都出現了勞動條件低下的問題。根據 Reveal 的
一項調查，Amazon的倉儲員工工傷的比例是全國平均的兩倍。被 Amazon Flex視
為「獨立承攬商」的貨運司機，工時超長且沒有任何加班費或福利。
ABX Air pilots won't be able to strike until released from the US
National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency which oversees
aviation industry labor relations. Ziebarth said the board is still in
the middle of holding negotiations with ATSG.
ABX Air 在得到全國調解委員會的許可之前仍無法罷工。Ziebarth 說他們還在
主持與 ATSG 的談判。
According to data from Flightpath Economics, a consulting firm, pilots
who work for ABX Air and Atlas Air are amongst the lowest paid in the
industry.
根據諮詢機構 Flightpath Economics 的資料，ABX Air 和 Altas Air 的機師
薪資是業界最低。
公司 時薪
ATSG $152
Atlas $139
Fedex $243
UPS $288
As a whole, cargo pilots face tougher working conditions than their
passenger pilot counterparts. Cargo pilots were left out of a 2014 law
that required passenger pilots to get a minimum of 10 hours' rest
between flights. Aviation experts also say that lax safety standards
and pilot fatigue has lead to a higher number of fatal crashes on
cargo flights compared to passenger flights.
綜此，貨機機師面臨比客機同僚更嚴苛的工作環境。2014年的一項立法要求客機
機師在航班之間至少要有10小時的休息時間。航空專家表示，寬鬆的安全標準和
駕駛疲勞，導致貨機相較之下有較多的致命事故。
Meanwhile, Amazon's air shipments are only likely to continue rising.
FedEx in June announced it would no longer assist Amazon in its air
delivery. That same month, Amazon announced it would roll out free
one-day shipping for millions of new products. These combined factors
have led to the e-commerce giant to rely on its own delivery services
than ever before. In July, Amazon Air flew 136 million pounds of goods
across in the US, a 29% increase from the same period in 2018, and
only 9 pounds less than the December 2018 holiday rush, according to
data from ATSG and Atlas Air analyzed by Cargo Facts Consulting. And
the growth simply won't die down this holiday season, when Amazon
expects to invest $1.5 billion into one-day shipping costs alone.
但同時，Amazon 的空運運量看來只會持續增加。六月 FedEX 宣佈不再協助
Amazon 空運。同月 Amazon 宣布推出百萬種商品的免費一日運送。種種因素加
起來，使得這商務巨擘史無前例的倚賴自己的貨運服務。根據 Cargo Facts
Consulting 對 ATSG 和 Altas Air 的資料分析，七月 Amazon Air 運送了1.36
億磅美國國內貨物，相比 2018 年同期增加 29%，也只比 2018 耶誕尖峰少了9
磅。在 Amazon 預期光在一日運送就將投資 15億鎂的前提下，這樣的成長遠不
可能在今年耶誕假期期間下滑。
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said that his company will rely less on
airplanes as it builds out its local warehouses. But for now, Amazon
is continuing to grow its air cargo operations: it added 15 more
planes to its fleet this year, and says it expects to have 70 planes
by 2021. It is working on a $1.5 billion expansion of its Amazon Air
Hub in Cincinnati—essentially an Amazon cargo airport—which is
expected to finish in 2021. When complete, the Air Hub will be able to
handle 200 daily takeoffs and landings. It recently opened an Air Hub
in Fort Worth, Texas. It seems that as long as demand is high, the
future of Amazon's fast and free shipping will rely heavily on air
freight.
Amazon 創辦人貝佐斯說過他的公司在建立各地當地倉儲的同時，會減少倚賴飛
機。但此時 Amazon 的航空貨運還在持續成長。今年新增了15架飛機，且預期在
2021年達到總數70架。它投入15億鎂在擴建辛辛那提轉運中心 - 基本上就是
Amazon 的貨運機場 - 預計 2021 年完成。完工之後，這個空轉中心將能容納
200架次起降。它在德州 Fort Worth 的空轉中心最近開張。看起來只要需求夠
高，未來 Amazon 仍將重度倚賴空運。
Amazon: Everyday Low Price (for "contractors")