Amazon swipes at Sanders over minimum wage, Warren over 'loopholes' comment
The minimum wage in Vermont is $11.75
Amazon issued harsh criticism of Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., over the fight for a $15 minimum wage, claiming the senator has not done enough in his own state.
The statement, posted to the Amazon News Twitter account, cited the fact that the senator’s home state maintains a minimum wage of $11.75.
“There’s a big difference between talk and action,” the statement read. “@SenSanders has been a powerful politician in Vermont for 30 years and their min wage is still $11.75. Amazon’s is $15, plus great health care from day one. Sanders would rather talk in Alabama than act in Vermont.”
The senator has placed a $15 minimum wage at the center of his policy for years, culminating in the Raise the Wage Act in 2019.
“Just a few short years ago, we were told that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour was ‘radical,’” Sanders said of the act. “It is not a radical idea to say a job should lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it. The current $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. It must be increased to a living wage of $15 an hour.”
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The motivation for Amazon’s comment is unclear. As a senator, Sanders’ influence over state politics would be hard to measure.
Fox Business reached out to Amazon and Sen. Sanders for comment, which is pending.
Amazon also took a shot at Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., quoting a tweet in which she accused the company of exploiting “loopholes.”
“This is extraordinary and revealing,” Amazon’s tweet read. “One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she’s going to break up an American company so that they can’t criticize her anymore.”
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Amazon has faced criticism for years over its treatment of workers. The company moved to a $15 minimum wage in 2018 – a full year before Sanders introduced his legislation.
Since then, the tech giant has pushed a campaign to see other companies likewise increase their minimum wage.
Those efforts grew to include efforts to lobby Congress to mandate a federal minimum wage of $15.
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More cynical observers believe that Amazon adjusted its minimum wage as appeasement regarding other work condition issues, such as allegations that the company routinely undermines efforts by workers to unionize.
