{"id":16454,"date":"2018-10-04T13:16:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T12:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=16454"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:11","slug":"amazon-raises-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=16454","title":{"rendered":"‘A starting point’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Following political pressure on both sides of the Atlantic, global tech giant Amazon has announced that it will raise minimum wages for all its UK and US staff from November 1.<\/p>\n

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About 350,000 workers in the US will benefit from the wage hike to $15 (\u00c2\u014111.57) an hour, while about 40,000 UK staff, including part-time and seasonal workers, will see their hourly earnings rise to \u00c2\u014110.50 an hour in London and \u00c2\u01419.50 an hour in the rest of the country.<\/p>\n

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The wage hike for American workers amounts to double the US federal minimum wage of $7.25 (\u00c2\u01415.58) while UK Amazon workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay will rise significantly above the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mandatory\u00c2\u00a0minimum wage of \u00c2\u01417.83 for over 25s.<\/p>\n

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The UK Amazon rate will now be even higher than the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098real Living Wage\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a wage calculated each year by the Living Wage Foundation to reflect the actual cost of living. This Living Wage now stands at \u00c2\u014110.20 in London and \u00c2\u01418.75 across the country.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bezos \u00e2\u20ac\u201c among the richest men in the world with an estimated net worth of $150bn \u00e2\u20ac\u201c has long come under fire for the massive pay gap between him and his employees. Bezos has also been denounced by politicians and trade unions alike for being at the helm of a company known for its draconian labour practices.<\/p>\n

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Horror stories from Amazon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s massive warehouses have emerged of workers urinating in bottles so that they wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to take toilet breaks that could jeopardise them meeting productivity targets. Workplace injuries are common<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Amazon is one of a dozen companies on a workplace safety ranking in America that are considered the most dangerous companies to work for.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One woman reported that after she seriously hurt her back, Amazon refused to compensate her and eventually stopped providing her with medical treatment. The woman is now homeless. According to GMB research, ambulances have been called out to Amazon UK warehouses 600 times in the last three years alone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Union-busting<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unionising efforts from workers have also been met with outward hostility. Management at American supermarket chain Whole Foods, which was acquired by Amazon last year, have been given explicit training on union busting techniques<\/a> after workers there have moved to organise.<\/p>\n

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In one training video, management are instructed on how to spot \u00e2\u20ac\u0098the warning signs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 of unionisation, including workers staying after their shifts have ended or using \u00e2\u20ac\u0098union words\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 such as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098living wage\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

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Amazon has also been widely denounced for paying virtually no tax on the billions of pounds it makes each year, most recently by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Whelby.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNot paying taxes speaks of the absence of commitment to our shared humanity, to solidarity and justice,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 the Archbishop said in a speech to the TUC conference<\/a> last month. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf you earn money from a community, you should pay your share of tax to that community. But when vast companies like Amazon, and other online traders, the new industries, can get away with paying almost nothing in tax, there is something wrong with the tax system.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amazon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest wage hike, which has garnered widespread publicity, has also been criticised by some as a mere public relations exercise \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the pay rise accounts for only 1 per cent of the $235bn in revenue<\/a> estimated for this year.<\/p>\n

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What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more, it is understood Amazon will be doing away with bonus incentive and stock option schemes<\/a> for its warehouse workers, which may in fact offset the cost of the headline pay rise. This so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098robbing Peter to pay Paul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tactic is common \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Unite has recently fought Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s over new contracts that will leave many staff worse off<\/a> despite an hourly pay rise, after other perks such as premium Saturday pay are removed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour movement victory<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Still, the Amazon pay rise has been lauded as a victory for labour movements in the US and the UK \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no coincidence that Amazon raised wages to $15 an hour, the same rate that unions across the US have been fighting to raise the legal minimum wage to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trade unions in the US and the UK have both welcomed the pay rise but urged Amazon to recognise unions.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAmazon is a trillion-dollar company,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt can easily afford to pay staff higher wages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf Amazon is really serious about looking after its workforce it must recognise trade unions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd it must end the exploitative working practices that have seen hundreds of ambulances called to its UK warehouses.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAll workers deserve decent conditions at work \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not surveillance, inhuman targets and the threat of a disciplinary if they to go to the toilet.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMake no mistake \u00e2\u20ac\u201c this pay rise isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the result of newly-charitable Jeff Bezos having suddenly seen the light,” he said.\u00c2\u00a0“It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an outcome of years of labour movement campaigning that has spread like wildfire and caught the popular imagination. Put simply, Amazon caved in to the immense public pressure, led by trade unions, both here and in the US.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOrdinary people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c both as workers and consumers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c have had enough of being treated as mere afterthoughts when it is they who create these giant corporations\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wealth, even as these same corporations shirk their responsibility to society by failing to pay tax,” Turner added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile the Amazon pay rise is welcome, it should only be seen as a starting point \u00e2\u20ac\u201c workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 true power comes from a collective, recognised<\/em> voice in the workplace that can bargain not only for higher pay but for better terms and conditions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for real dignity at work.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following political pressure on both sides of the Atlantic, global tech giant Amazon has announced that it will raise minimum wages for all its UK and US staff from November 1.   About 350,000 workers in the US will benefit from the wage hike to $15 (\u00c2\u014111.57) an hour, while about 40,000 UK staff, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[799,65],"wps_subtitle":"Amazon raises wages for UK and US workers but unions demand recognition","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25808,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16454\/revisions\/25808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}