Bernie Sanders Ramps Up Amazon Battle With New Bill Demanding Living Wage for Workers
Bernie Sanders Ramps Up Amazon Battle With New Bill
Demanding Living Wage for Workers
According to the senator's office, the legislation would
establish a 100 percent tax on large employers equal to the amount of federal
benefits received by low-wage workers.
By Gideon Resnick 08.24.18 10:50 AM ET
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is amping up his battle
against large corporations like Amazon with a new bill set to be introduced on
Sept. 5.
According to the senator’s office, the legislation would
create a 100-percent tax on large employers equal to the amount of federal
benefits that the employers’ low-wage workers receive.
For instance, if an Amazon employee gets $300 in food
stamps, Amazon would be taxed $300.
“At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, the
gap between the very rich and everyone else continues to grow wider,” Sanders
said in a statement.
“[Amazon CEO] Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person on earth,
has become a symbol of that inequality and greed,” the statement continued.
“While Mr. Bezos is worth $155 billion and while his wealth has increased $260
million every single day this year, he continues to pay many Amazon employees
wages that are so low that they are forced to depend on taxpayer funded
programs such as food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing just to get by.”
The announcement comes after the Vermont senator launched
a petition calling on Bezos to pay workers a living wage. The petition has
received 105,000 signatures since Tuesday.
The proposed legislation, however, does not specifically
target Amazon.
“While Mr. Bezos is the most egregious example,” Sanders
explained, “the Walton family of Walmart and many other billionaire-owned large
and profitable companies also enrich themselves off taxpayer assistance while
paying their workers poverty-level wages. That is why I am introducing
legislation in September to demand that Mr. Bezos and other billionaires get
off welfare and start paying their workers a living wage.”
According to The Washington Post, also owned by Bezos,
records obtained by non-profit news outfit the New Food Economy indicate that
thousands of Amazon employees use the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance
Program.
Melanie Etches, a spokeswoman for the tech giant, told
the Post that the numbers were “misleading” because they included individuals
who only worked at the company for a short time or worked part-time.
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