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Comment by Krisando | Hacker News Reader

> They'll get Amazon to cave.

I'm not so sure, and I'll explain why below on one of your points.

> in the end garbage collectors will refuse to pick up garbage at their warehouse. Electricians will refuse to service their warehouse. Plumbers will not plumb. Workers, builders, postmen etc will all simply stop servicing Amazon. Companies that deal with Amazon can also be put in a blockade.

Outside of employing builders directly, it's my understanding that Amazon has previously operated in-house alternatives for those, particularly to reduce the costs in their supply chain and operations. I wonder if this would lead to Amazon instead scaling up the self sufficiency instead?

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You absolutely have a point but I also think that you perhaps don't have the social or historical context to understand how deeply rooted unions are in Swedish society.

The Toysrus strike has been mentioned and at the time the unions did not even use all means at their disposal.

In the event of a general strike bus drivers could well refuse to stop at bus stops servicing the warehouse. Banks will refuse to process transactions for the company. Members will refuse to give them their business (4 million or so out of the total 10 million population). All of this happened to Toysrus.

Nearly 90% of workers in the country are members of a union and most will follow a general boycott if urged to do so.

There really isn't much of a choice here. They don't have to sign an agreement, but they certainly will not be profitable unless they do.

That's really interesting; also, one of my Swedish friends learned something new, he wasn't aware of that before either.

Did banks really refuse to process their transactions? That is union overreach I would say.

Overreach in what sense? What's... I dunno, standard-length reach for labor action?

Not overreach, it's solidarity.

As was stated in the article, there is no government mandated minimum wage in Sweden as most jobs that would be covered under a minimum wage are negotiated union wages. Union members looking out for other union members, that way all workers benefit in the end.

Should the tax office employees not process their tax declaration either? I mean, solidarity.

Sure? Is the objection just that you'd prefer laws to social pressure?

You can hire your own cleaning staff obviously (how very 1980's) but it's going to be extrenmely difficult and expensive to be self sufficient on everything from water, garbage pickup, electricity and so on.

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