Generational Dynamics Forum - New Site

FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) today announced that the company is reducing its fourth quarter 2020 outlook. The company is proceeding through its quarterly close, and based on preliminary results expects fourth quarter revenue of approximately $1.15 billion as compared with prior guidance of $1.23 to $1.29 billion, and fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA in the range of $285 to $295 million as compared with prior guidance of $335 to $355 million. Full-year free cash flow guidance of $475 to $525 million in 2020 remains unchanged. The company expects 2021 outlook at or somewhat above long-range plan targets of 5 to 7 percent revenue growth and 7 to 9 percent adjusted EBITDA growth.

In North America, sales were impacted due to supply chain disruptions, including COVID-related factors associated with logistics and a tolling partner. These events occurred during the traditionally busy month of December, resulting in some products not being delivered to customers by quarter end. The company expects a large proportion of those sales will be recognized in first quarter 2021. In Brazil, sales were lower than forecasted due to severe drought that persisted throughout the fourth quarter, resulting in lower demand. The company expects these conditions to continue through first quarter 2021. In Argentina, substantial product inventory located in bonded warehouses was not released by customs officials in a timely manner. This inventory is expected to be released, and sales completed, in first quarter 2021.

Higgenbotham wrote: Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:20 pm Their ... "skills" are ... marginalizing those who present a threat to them. That's what Bezos basically spends his whole day doing.

Secret Amazon Reports Expose the Company’s Surveillance of Labor and Environmental Groups

Dozens of leaked documents from Amazon’s Global Security Operations Center reveal the company’s reliance on Pinkerton operatives to spy on warehouse workers and the extensive monitoring of labor unions, environmental activists, and other social movements.

by Lauren Kaori Gurley

November 23, 2020, 11:16am

A trove of more than two dozen internal Amazon reports reveal in stark detail the company's obsessive monitoring of organized labor and social and environmental movements in Europe, particularly during Amazon's “peak season” between Black Friday and Christmas. The reports, obtained by Motherboard, were written in 2019 by Amazon intelligence analysts who work for the Global Security Operations Center, the company's security division tasked with protecting Amazon employees, vendors, and assets at Amazon facilities around the world.
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The documents show Amazon analysts closely monitor the labor and union-organizing activity of their workers throughout Europe, as well as environmentalist and social justice groups on Facebook and Instagram. They also indicate, and an Amazon spokesperson confirmed, that Amazon has hired Pinkerton operatives—from the notorious spy agency known for its union-busting activities—to gather intelligence on warehouse workers.

Internal emails sent to Amazon's Global Security Operations Center obtained by Motherboard reveal that all the division's team members around the world receive updates on labor organizing activities at warehouses that include the exact date, time, location, the source who reported the action, the number of participants at an event (and in some cases a turnout rate of those expected to participate in a labor action), and a description of what happened, such as a "strike" or "the distribution of leaflets." Other documents reveal that Amazon intelligence analysts keep close tabs on how many warehouse workers attend union meetings; specific worker dissatisfactions with warehouse conditions, such as excessive workloads; and cases of warehouse-worker theft, from a bottle of tequila to $15,000 worth of smart watches.

The documents offer an unprecedented look inside the internal security and surveillance apparatus of a company that has vigorously attempted to tamp down employee dissent and has previously been caught smearing employees who attempted to organize their colleagues. Amazon's approach of dealing with its own workforce, labor unions, and social and environmental movements as a threat has grave implications for its workers' privacy and ability to join labor unions and collectively bargain—and not only in Europe. It should also be concerning to both customers and workers in the United States and Canada, and around the world as the company expands into Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and India.