Amazon is providing misleading information in its announcement of a $1 billion “investment” for its employees in Fulfillment Centers and Transportation operations. In reality employees are underpaid and the work is stressful and dangerous.
Amazon’s public relations agenda is a carefully crafted program designed to distract from the company’s ongoing vicious union-busting campaign and its refusal to meet its legal obligation to bargain with its unionized employees. Amazon made over $30 billion in profit last year – with one billion dollars spread across more than 1,000 facilities and hundreds of thousands of workers. This giant company certainly can fix chronic under-staffig dangerous conditions and poverty wages inside its warehouses and delivery network.
Without union representation and enforceable guarantees, Amazon will continue to control all worker decisions. At JFK8 In New York City, more than 5,000 workers received just a fifty-cent raise this year. New hires are starting at only $21.75 an hour.
Employees work below a true living wage, especially in one of the most expensive regions in the country. Amazon highlights a step-plan that they claim rewards tenure, but in reality, employees are capped on raises after just three years. This system serves Amazon’s hire-and-turnover model, ensuring most workers do not see meaningful pay growth while the company can continue to hire new employees at lower wages.
While mainstream media mentions Amazon’s pay raises and benefits as generous, the reality on the warehouse floor is far bleaker. Amazon’s enormous advertising budget and pr, buys favorable coverage while hiding the facts of low wages and high worker injuries. The company continues an aggressive anti-union strategy that is harmful to employees.
Amazon needs to recognize the Teamsters Union and bargain a contract now. Workers deserve dignity, safety, and a real voice on the job.
