INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is seeking additional information about the working conditions in Amazon warehouses in advance of legislation
he preparing to introduce on September 5.
Income inequality was, after all, the centerpiece of Sanders& 2016 presidential campaign
It was a populist message that resonated strongly with voters, giving the dark horse candidate a boost among concerned progressives and
independents during a tooth and nail primary battle.
But while the message, perhaps, wasn''t enough to put him over the top, it a mission
that remained central to Sanders& work on Capitol Hill, finding him taking aim at some of the world largest corporations
In recent months, Amazon has been in the senator sights.
Earlier today, Sanders tweeted out a link asking employees of the online retail
giant to share their experiences working for the company
The form allows current and former Amazon employees to share their stories either on the record or anonymously
It asks whether workers &struggle[d] with the demanding working conditions,& and whether they required public assistance.
Are you a
current or former Amazon employee Please share your experiences with Sen
https://t.co/fQzm3SuyXA
mdash; Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 28, 2018
In a phone call today, Sanders told TechCrunch that his office
already knows enough about the working conditions in Amazon warehouses, but is seeking additional information as it prepares to introduce
legislation on September 5
We know that the median salary for Amazon employees is about $28,000,& the Senator told TechCrunch
&And about half the workers who work for Amazon make less than $28,000 a year.
It easy to see why the company has become a prime target for
A recent SEC filing put the median salary at $28,446 — less than owner Jeff Bezos makes every 10 seconds.
We have every reason to believe
that many, many thousands of Amazon workers in their warehouses throughout the country are earning very low wages,& Sanders explained
&It hard to get this information
Amazon has not been very forthcoming
From what information we&ve gathered, one out of three Amazon workers in Arizona, as we understand it, are on public assistance
They are receiving either Medicaid, food stamps or public housing.
The Senator acknowledges that nothing about what Amazon is doing, on the
face of it, is breaking any laws
But the discrepancy between its highest and lowest wage earners is enough for him to call into question why government subsidies are
required to buoy those on the bottom rung
This is precisely what the proposed legislation aims to address
Put simply, Sanders says we have every reason to believe that the richest man in the world can afford to pay employees more
The taxpayers in this country should not be subsidizing a guy who worth $150 billion, whose wealth is increasing by $260 million every
single day,& said Sanders
He has enough money to pay his workers a living wage
He does not need corporate welfare
And our goal is to see that Bezos pays his workers a living wage.
While Amazon is notoriously tight-lipped about matters these matters, the
company has been on the defensive since the senator made it a kind of pet project
Amazon won''t comment directly on the forthcoming legislation until it made official, but the company did provide TechCrunch with comment
We encourage anyone to compare our pay and benefits to other retailers,& an Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch
&Amazon is proud to have created over 130,000 new jobs last year alone
These are good jobs with highly competitive pay and full benefits
In the United States , the average hourly wage for a full-time associate in our fulfillment centers, including cash, stock, and incentive
bonuses, is over $15/hour before overtime
That in addition to our full benefits package that includes health, vision and dental insurance, retirement, generous parental leave, and
skills training for in-demand jobs through our Career Choice program, which has over 16,000 participants.
Amazon further suggests that those
interested in learning more about warehouse conditions book a tour of one of its fulfillment centers to &see for themselves.
A
representative from Sanders& office tells TechCrunch that Amazon invited the senator on a tour of a fulfillment center, and he plans to take
the company up on the offer.
SAN FERNANDO DE HENARES, SPAIN & 2018/07/16: General view of the Amazon warehouse in San Fernando de
Henares.
Of course, the concerns over Amazon treatment of workers aren''t new
Mother Jones ran an exposé of what it was like working as an Amazon warehouse slave in 2012
In 2013, Gawker published a series of emails from employees discussing life in fulfillment centers citing things like &unrealistic goals,&
&very short breaks& and &below zero temps& in warehouses
A protestor cited by The Guardianin 2014 said it was better to be homeless than work for the retailer
And, most recently, Business Insider documented the &horror stories& faced by the Amazon warehouse workers, including nonstop surveillance
and so little ability to take breaks, they couldn''t even use the facilities, when needed.
Amazon has since been on something of a charm
offensive in response to those PR headaches
Last week, there was the odd phenomenon of an army of Twitter accounts claiming to be warehouse workers who were serving up similar talking
Hello!& one wrote, cheerfully
&I work in an Amazon FC in WA and our wages and benefits are very good
Amazon pays FC employess [sic] ~30% more than traditional retail stores and offers full medical benefits from day 1
Working conditions are very good- clean/well lit- Safety is a top priority at my facility!
That Amazon positions its own offerings as
&highly competitive& can, perhaps, be seen as something of an indictment of larger issues with warehouse fulfillment
While the company is an easy target, it certainly not alone
And Sanders notes that his office is casting the net wider than just Amazon
Disney and Walmart have also been targeted by the senator
In June, Sanders told a crowd at an Anaheim church, &I want to hear the moral defense of a company that makes$9billion in profits, $400
million for their CEOs and have a 30-year worker going hungry
Tell me how that is right.
A month later, he took to Twitter to call out CEO Bob Iger directly, writing, &Does Disney CEO Bob Iger have a
good explanation for why he is being compensated more than $400 million while workers at Disneyland are homeless and relying on food stamps
to feed their families
Does Disney CEO Bob Iger have a good explanation for why he is being compensated more than $400 million while
workers at Disneyland are homeless and relying on food stamps to feed their families
mdash; Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 13,
2018
Earlier this week, however, Disney reached an agreement with the Walt Disney World union to pay workers a $15 minimum wage
We&ve seen real progress at the Disney corporation,& Sanders told TechCrunch, &and I believe that Jeff Bezos can play a profound role in
American society today if he were to say, ‘yes, I&m the richest guy in the world
I will pay my workers a living wage at least $15 and make sure all of my workers have the security and dignity they need
I will improve conditions.&
Amazon and Walmart, meanwhile, remain the two key targets for the impending legislation
With Democrats in the minority in the United States Senate, it seems unlikely that a hearing will be called where Bezos would be asked to
testify à la Mark Zuckerberg, but the senator plans to go ahead with the legislation next week, regardless.
That legislation is pretty
simple,& explained Sanders
&It says: if you are a large company of 500 or more employees and you&re paying your workers wages that are so low that they have to go on
food stamps, Medicaid, public housing, etc., then you have to pay taxes commensurate to how much the government is now spending for that
It going to be the employer & the Jeff Bezos, the Walton family & who will pick up the tab for these public assistance programs, rather than
the middle class of the country.
