AOC joins Amazon Twitter fight, says employees were 'defecating in bags'
In a Tuesday tweet, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez joined her fellow Democrats in criticizing Amazon for alleged poor working conditions – a move that has prompted the internet based company to lash out at some of the U.S.’s most liberal figures.
“A loved one of mine worked Amazon delivery last year & left because that’s how dangerous it felt to them,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet. Adding that the company “puts so much performance pressure on their workers that defecating in bags is a common enough occurrence that there are internal memos about it.”
AMAZON LEADERS REPORTEDLY TOLD TO FIGHT BACK ON TWITTER AGAINST WARREN, SANDERS CRITICISM
The New York Democrat’s comments were in response to former White House press secretary under the Obama administration and current Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs at Amazon, Jay Carney, who rebuffed comments by Sanders after he claimed “Amazon workers in Alabama are sick and tired of being treated like robots.”
“With all due respect, Senator [Bernie Sanders] you’re wrong on this. We treat our employees with dignity and respect. We offer a $15 min wage, health care from day one, and a safe, inclusive workplace.”
The convoluted back and forth by Amazon officials started after Sanders announced he would be visiting an Alabama Amazon warehouse to encourage unionization, last week.
The heated exchanges started after Sanders wrote on twitter, “All I want to know is why the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, is spending millions trying to prevent workers from organizing a union so they can negotiate for better wages, benefits and working conditions.”
“All we want to know is why the [Senator] is one of the most powerful [politicians] in VT for 30+ yrs and their min wage is STILL only $11.75. AMZN’s min wage is $15 + great health care from Day 1,” retorted Amazon CEO Dave Clark. “The Sen should save his finger wagging lecture until after he actually delivers in his own backyard.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also went after Amazon saying they “exploit loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes."
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But the company once again responded in a series of tweets, telling the Senator they “just follow” the law.
"If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them. Here are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone," Amazon retorted in part.
Amazon has faced criticism after documents surfaced showing employees had complained of urinating in water bottles and not having enough time to stop and use the restroom.
Amazon addressed these criticisms on Twitter too.
Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.