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Many Amazon Warehouse Workers are on Food Stamps (theintercept.com)
Many of Amazon's warehouse workers have to buy their groceries with food stamps through America's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, reports the Intercept.
In Arizona, new data suggests that one in three of the company's own employees depend on SNAP to put food on the table. In Pennsylvania and Ohio, the figure appears to be around one in 10. Overall, of five states that responded to a public records request for a list of their top employers of SNAP recipients, Amazon cracked the top 20 in four.
Though the company now employs 200,000 people in the United States, many of its workers are not making enough money to put food on the table... "The average warehouse worker at Walmart makes just under $40,000 annually, while at Amazon would take home about $24,300 a year," CNN reported in 2013. "That's less than $1,000 above the official federal poverty line for a family of four."
In addition Amazon uses temp workers who may also be on food stamps, notes the article, adding that in 2017 Amazon received $1.2 billion in state and local subsidies, while effectively paying no federal income tax.
"The American people are financing Amazon's pursuit of an e-commerce monopoly every step of the way: first, with tax breaks, subsidies, and infrastructure improvements meant to lure fulfillment centers into town, and later with federal transfers to pay for warehouse workers' food."
Though the company now employs 200,000 people in the United States, many of its workers are not making enough money to put food on the table... "The average warehouse worker at Walmart makes just under $40,000 annually, while at Amazon would take home about $24,300 a year," CNN reported in 2013. "That's less than $1,000 above the official federal poverty line for a family of four."
In addition Amazon uses temp workers who may also be on food stamps, notes the article, adding that in 2017 Amazon received $1.2 billion in state and local subsidies, while effectively paying no federal income tax.
"The American people are financing Amazon's pursuit of an e-commerce monopoly every step of the way: first, with tax breaks, subsidies, and infrastructure improvements meant to lure fulfillment centers into town, and later with federal transfers to pay for warehouse workers' food."
They pay the same minimum wages under the same rules as all of the other big and small companies. It's the "system" and laws
Why is it the worst jobs pay the least?
Supply and demand in the labor market combined with the jobs having a low barrier to entry skill wise. All it takes is for people to not take the jobs at the price and under the conditions supplied, but obviously plenty of people are willing to do the work for the pay Amazon is paying.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
FIX THE TAX CODE.
This stops so many more abuses of this kind.
CREATE ACTUAL LAWS FOR WORKERS.
Wipe minimum wage, eliminate the part time/full classifications, require mandatory minimum amounts of sick leave and holidays, both with pay, create incentives for businesses to again pay employees a living wage or better to reduce corporate tax liability instead of giving them more incentives to feed the pockects of investors and chase ever-expanding profits until they collapse.
FIX HEALTH CARE
So workers no longer feel like they cannot leave their jobs. Creating a more mobile workforce creates a better market for employees, increases wages, and raises the economy.
Or, just bitch about the corporate giant du jour while changing nothing, and wonder why things keep going downhill.
It's called Corporate Welfare.
Since our gov is owned and directed by the Satanic Witch family owned corporations, who must legally follow the deadly sin of Greed, your and my taxes go to supporting them in almost every way/manner that can be imagined by the vile minions of evil, and since 1980 corporate profit has climbed but wages and salaries have not increased and purchase power because of inflation have been reduced.
Years ago I read that the properly adjusted buying power of minimum wage would have to be $24/hr to be the same as when it was introduced. Imagine .. pumping gas was a living wage and one could consider starting a family.
Now taxes educate their workers, maintain the infrastructure and corporate legal preference, and go to supplement the pay of their workers so they don't starve to death while working their (and often camping for housing...)
It's called corporate welfare.
"That hasn't happened since Reagan became president however."
Stop lying.
Here are examples of prison sentences that I easily found , one from during the Trump administration and one from the Obama administration.
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-...
https://www.washingtontimes.co...
I quickly bored of trying to filter by each individual president, but this is enough to refute the "hasn't happened since Reagan" claim. In fact the turning point was in 1986, or not until 3/4 of Reagans's tenure had elapsed.