Amazon fires back at Bernie Sanders
In a rare public response, Amazon fired back at one of its most vocal critics — and it’s not President Trump.
The online giant on Wednesday posted a blog on its website in which it called Sen. Bernie Sanders’ claims about the pay and benefits it offers workers, and the worker conditions at Amazon’s fulfillment centers, as “inaccurate and misleading.”
“We have been in regular contact with his office and have offered several opportunities for Senator Sanders and his team to tour one of our fulfillment centers," Amazon said in the posting. “To date he has still not seen an FC for himself."
Sanders has been heavily critical of Amazon. Most recently, the progressive icon posted a series of Facebook videos calling out Amazon for not paying a living wage, which he describes in some posts as $15 an hour. In one video, titled "Get Amazon Off of Corporate Welfare," he highlighted that CEO Jeff Bezos is the world's richest person and earns $260 million a day, but many of his workers are on food stamps. Sanders has also been tweeting the same message.
He also posted a link on his Senate and Facebook pages urging current and former Amazon employees to share their experiences working for the company. He also asked them to identify whether they are on some form of public assistance, such as food stamps, or struggle with demanding working conditions.
The senator plans to introduce legislation on Sept. 5 that would make large employers such as Amazon pay the bill for federal aid received by their workers.
In its blog, Amazon noted that it is proud to have created over 130,000 new jobs last year alone.
“In the U.S., 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,” the company stated. “We encourage anyone to compare our pay and benefits to other retailers.”
Amazon also said its head of global operations, Dave Clark, emailed the following to the company’s ops leadership:
Subject: Please encourage associates to tell Senator Sanders their truth
Hi Team,
You may already be aware, Senator Sanders is asking folks in the FCs to share with him their experience of working at Amazon. I encourage you and your teams to let him know what you think. He only asks if you are on food stamps, but I hope he would be interested in hearing that you’re not as well. Please feel free to tell him your truth, and encourage all employees in your buildings to do the same – during stand-ups, in the halls, etc.
Thanks,
Dave
To read Amazon’s full response to Sanders, click here.
The online giant on Wednesday posted a blog on its website in which it called Sen. Bernie Sanders’ claims about the pay and benefits it offers workers, and the worker conditions at Amazon’s fulfillment centers, as “inaccurate and misleading.”
“We have been in regular contact with his office and have offered several opportunities for Senator Sanders and his team to tour one of our fulfillment centers," Amazon said in the posting. “To date he has still not seen an FC for himself."
Sanders has been heavily critical of Amazon. Most recently, the progressive icon posted a series of Facebook videos calling out Amazon for not paying a living wage, which he describes in some posts as $15 an hour. In one video, titled "Get Amazon Off of Corporate Welfare," he highlighted that CEO Jeff Bezos is the world's richest person and earns $260 million a day, but many of his workers are on food stamps. Sanders has also been tweeting the same message.
He also posted a link on his Senate and Facebook pages urging current and former Amazon employees to share their experiences working for the company. He also asked them to identify whether they are on some form of public assistance, such as food stamps, or struggle with demanding working conditions.
The senator plans to introduce legislation on Sept. 5 that would make large employers such as Amazon pay the bill for federal aid received by their workers.
In its blog, Amazon noted that it is proud to have created over 130,000 new jobs last year alone.
“In the U.S., 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,” the company stated. “We encourage anyone to compare our pay and benefits to other retailers.”
Amazon also said its head of global operations, Dave Clark, emailed the following to the company’s ops leadership:
Subject: Please encourage associates to tell Senator Sanders their truth
Hi Team,
You may already be aware, Senator Sanders is asking folks in the FCs to share with him their experience of working at Amazon. I encourage you and your teams to let him know what you think. He only asks if you are on food stamps, but I hope he would be interested in hearing that you’re not as well. Please feel free to tell him your truth, and encourage all employees in your buildings to do the same – during stand-ups, in the halls, etc.
Thanks,
Dave
To read Amazon’s full response to Sanders, click here.