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_Campbell Biemiller is a first-year journalism major at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about politics and entertainment for The Maneater._
In the second half of 2021, Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos will step down as CEO to become executive chairman, leaving Andy Jassy to fill his position. Bezos deserves respect for wanting to equally focus his time and energy on all of his endeavors. However, he is still responsible for the selfish actions of the company that need to change.
Amazon has been criticized for a long time for its unsustainable practices and monopoly power. Over the years, many people have boycotted the company due to harsh working conditions, poor environmental protection techniques and overshadowing of small businesses.
The company has been aggressively against unionizing since an Amazon warehouse in Alabama pushed to sign union authorization cards following the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Facebook posts, websites and meetings, Bezos has pushed his coworkers to not unionize.
Amazon hired union suppression consultant Russell Brown in late January to end the union election happening in the fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama.
In the texts, Amazon claims workers will “be giving up [their] right to speak for [themselves]” by signing a union authorization card and emphasizing union dues, claiming “unions are a business,” telling workers “don’t let the union take your money for nothing” and prompting them to visit their anti-union website DoItWithoutDues.com, according to the Guardian.
Bezos and other Amazon executives went as far as to successfully have the city of Bessemer change the traffic light schedule, according to More Perfect Union. This kept those in favor of unionization from communicating with Amazon employees. The green lights stayed on longer, allowing more people to leave the warehouse quicker.
Unions allow workers to be seen by their employers as a powerful collective rather than individuals. There are steeper costs for the employer if a union goes on strike or if the collective group fights for higher wages and so on. During the pandemic, a union would provide Amazon workers with extra security and a little more power.
By ignoring the problems workers are facing and being against unions, Bezos is selfish and ignorant to his employees’ problems. His focus should be on the well-being of his workers before the company.
Jeff Bezos raked in $90.1 billion during the pandemic, according to USA Today. The article continues, stating consumers’ increase in online shopping for groceries and sanitation products because of in-person-shopping health risks advanced the business, and therefore Bezos greatly.
Bezos has a lot of investing and purchasing power as well as government resources that favor the wealthy in addition to their personal profit. Tax laws and government loopholes keep billionaires at the top, according to Insider.
Amazon’s suit-and-tie workers were consistently updated with emails about future work protocols and commuting through the pandemic. It left its blue-collar workers in the dust about information regarding how the company would handle COVID-19. The lack of concern for warehouse workers’ safety highlights the company’s favoritism toward white-collar workers. Warehouse and retail workers worked in unsafe conditions to provide food and other items to people while the upper-level employees were provided with whatever they needed.
Lower-level workers received a slight raise for the first few months of COVID-19, but once Amazon regained structure they lost their hazard pay. Being on the floor constantly, they were at the highest risk for contracting the virus compared to all Amazon employees. An anonymous marketing manager told Fast Company he never feared getting COVID-19, especially with the option to work from home.
Given that unions provide employees with better wages and benefits and an overall sense of community, there should be no reason for Amazon to be against unionization, especially due to COVID-19. Following Amazon’s handling of the pandemic, it’s understandable that the workers want a union to support their safety.
Many workers have complained about Amazon’s lack of concern toward workers’ safety. They say the company pushes physical labor limits from productivity demands, according to the Intercept.
Jeff Bezos has failed to provide his employees with proper working conditions throughout the struggle of COVID-19. Him stepping down as CEO doesn’t make these problems go away, nor does it excuse him from bettering the lives of all of Amazon’s employees. There is plenty of work to be done by all the Amazon executives in order to give the employees safe working conditions.
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_Edited by Sydney Lewis | slewis@themaneater.com_