I have boycotted Amazon entirely (not exempting "things I can't find anywhere else") for quite a few years. Monopolies must be stopped. Small stores are disappearing. The retail landscape is not sustainable, and much of this is the fault of Amazon. The way they treat their workers at every level is appalling. Amazon disgusts me.
14
The amount of packaging Amazon uses is insane. They contribute more plastic and cardboard waste than any other company in the world.
13
Let us consider how a White House press secretary became qualified to be a vice president of global corporate affairs for Amazon.
11
This is very disingenuous framing. Amazon didn’t raise wages out of the goodness of its heart. It raised wages because Bernie Sanders would not shut up about the meager pay of lowly Amazon employees, while Bezos became the richest man in the world. Bernie badgered and badgered and Amazon eventually gave in. Carney’s framing of Amazon as some sort of enlightened corporate citizen is way off.
Nice bit of Amazon PR there, NYT.
16
This is only part of the story. How much of your supply and delivery chain is made up of poorly paid contractors, Amazon?
10
E tu, New York Times? Nothing specifically against Amazon, and I haven't read all the comments, but I don't suppose I'm the first to express surprise that the one of the largest corporations in the world gets a self-congratulatory op-ed in the NYT -- written by an employee no less! Amazon hardly needs the free advertising. Hardly deserves it, either. I know we should just shut up and be grateful. But seriously Jim -- or Bernie for that matter -- $15 an hour is not some sort of magic wand; it's a palliative for terminal poverty. And the author's move from trusted Presidential Spokesperson to corporate shill!? Classic.
I assume these guys are all democrats, like me. But man, a story like this just reminds me how completely out of touch the plutocracy is -- even on my side of the aisle. A lot of us are getting really tired of it.
14
Interesting Huff Post article---- “Former Obama Officials Are Riding Out The Trump Years By Cashing In”. (despite Obama’s opposition to this and the article names various officials)
Re Jay Carney--- “…he joined Amazon as a senior VP in 2015. When the NY Times ran a story detailing a host of problems with Amazon’s harsh workplace culture, Carney authored a lengthy reply on Medium publicly challenging the company employees quoted in the story.....
…….calling the story "a masterpiece of innuendo and half-truth,....just an underhanded campaign of deception.
The Times stood by their story, and a month after Carney published his piece, Amazon spontaneously announced it would be implementing a more generous maternity leave policy.”
6
So many people attacking a rule-following player in the game when they should be going after the people making the rules.
5
"Our core business, consumer retail" I'm sorry I stopped reading after this bold faced lie. I'm a professional devops engineer and it's pretty clear to me that although consumer retail may have once been Amazon's core buissness that is no longer the case.
He didn't even say "online consumer retail." Any attempts for Amazon to frame themselves as a bookseller with a few side gigs is misdirection, plain and simple. And what's worse is this misdirection might even work on most voters who don't have the tech experience I do.
7
Mr. Carney - if Amazon is such a responsible, respected company, why has it devoted so many internal resources to make sure that it evades paying its fair share of taxes.
I go out of my way to support local businesses, and the Certified B Corp movement. Business should be a force for good for all citizens. If Mr. Bezos wanted to, he could share much more of his vast fortune, and the company could greatly increase its commitment to a sustainable planet.
Nice P.R. piece, though . . .
13
@Flip Brown
Excellent...!
2
In the year 2000 I made $25 per hour as an evening
receptionist at a major law firm, this included dinner and car
home at 12midnight for safety along with full dental and
medical and 401k and a $10,000 dollar bonus at Christmas
because the law partners raved about my professional
pristine work ethic and my sunny California disposition (Yes
we Californians are shiny happy people, we just are), that
was the year 2000 I lasted one year because my real career
in film took off. What happened to these jobs in 2020, they
don't exist and these same jobs are only paying around $15
per hour 20 years later in 2020, this does NOT make any
Sense!!!
As for Carney & Bezos should place employees and
customers FIRST without a Single excuse Or Cover-up
SANDERS demands and requirements are fair and ethical
The Next PRESIDENT of the United States of America is
Bernie SANDERS....
So get with the program AMAZON and Jay RESPOND to all
your emails. Its looks really bad when you don't
6
Looking across the country and into the future, I reasonably see more jobs lost than gained because of this unregulated new monopoly on all “consumer retail”.
And did someone mention Data? What does Amazon do with all ours? And what is AWS (Amazon Web Services)?
Due to legislative neglect, we customers must inform ourselves and understand the choices we make, and their hidden costs, when we shop and stream.
7
I am sure readers of the NY Times are aware that taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel pay for our roads and bridges, not corporate income taxes. Those taxes are paid in full by Amazon and the delivery services they use, UPS, USPS, etc. How could they avoid them?
When Trump says Amazon is ripping of the post office we all scoff, but the fact checking seems to end with our own rants.
Yes, $15/hour is still not a living wage. Yes, tax laws should be written so companies like Amazon pay more. Yes, facts still matter.
Why is the New York Times allowing the fox to write a piece about the hen house? Did Rupert Murdoch buy the newspaper when I wasn't looking? This article is very Wall Street Journal.
10
Bezos is one of the worst humans. Break up Amazon now.
4
Amazon did the right thing by raising the minimum wage to $15 (and thanks for acknowledging that even that is not very much).
It would be nice if Amazon fully insourced the package delivery and raised the wages of the drivers as well. That would get some stress out of the drivers and hopefully we would see fewer Amazon trucks speeding through our neighborhood, and our kids would once again be able to safely ride their bikes.
5
Mr. Carney surely realizes that in weaker economies outside of the major metropolitan areas, $15 per hour is not only a pipe dream, but also a potential job killer.
Raising the cost of a burger to $10 will not sell more burgers in these impoverished regions, but likely fewer of them -- as the cost will be in excess of what some of us can afford.
Where the local Market can support a $15 minimum wage, then that is fine. Many Markets at the present time cannot support a $15 minimum wage AND THESE MARKETS SHOULDN'T BE REQUIRED TO RAISE THEIR MINIMUM WAGES (especially since some heavyweights on the coasts said that it is okay to do so).
Our legislators share much of the blame for refusing to close loopholes or apply equitable tax policies but as I was just saying to Alexa, who I trust has passed along the message directly, why don’t you start paying your fair share of taxes at Amazon—or even any taxes at all?
Do that, and then maybe we can get behind the corporate rah-rah...
6
Before Amazon owned Whole Foods, I used to spend $75-$100 per week there for groceries and would usually eat a few meals there. I'm not an Amazon Prime member (won't pay $119/year for the 'privilege' of shopping there), many of the items they used to have disappeared from the shelves, never see local farmers selling outside the store now, and there's a dearth of local products. Also, almost all of the long-time employees are gone. Now I only go for the very few items I can't fine elsewhere, and the last time I went they had even removed the water cooler and cups. If you're gonna eat you must buy your drink.
It's like Scrooge McDuck took over.
7
How horrible, $15/hour. I remember my mom washed dishes for $3/hr. Certainly, any sort of training program was out of the question. All of us made Amazon to what it is today. So, no excuses.
1
Have you not heard of inflation? Your mother worked for $3 an hour? When was that? What was the cost of living then?
5
"According to ITEP, 60 Fortune 500 companies avoided paying all federal income tax in 2018 (with their total average effective tax rate being roughly -5%).
That’s more than three times the number of companies that avoided paying corporate taxes on average from 2008 to 2015. During that period, 18 companies managed to pay 0% or less (with their total average effective tax rate over 8 years being roughly -4%)."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-paid-a-12-tax-rate-on-13285000000-in-profit-for-2019-210847927.html
We pay high taxes to enable infrastructure so that Amazon and others can make a giant profit so that we can be grateful.
8
Thank you for your bravery, NYTimes. In this age of inequality and rapacious capitalism, opening up your OpEd page to give voice to the voiceless is bold and commendable.
10
Too bad your injury rate for warehouse workers is more than twice the industry average.
8
PR campaign. Spinning a message around a decision you were prepared to make anyway. Professionals get paid for this stuff. They get paid a lot more than $15 an hour. Try something more like $46 an hour at the low end. Trust me. They don't contribute much to the general well-being.
That said, Jay Carney is also spear phishing. He's trying to gauge Bernie's response to Amazon's pandering now that Bernie is officially the presumptive front-runner. Amazon is supposed to be a market place. Well, Carney is bidding.
It's shallow, morally depraved, and certainly motivated from someone above Carney's head. He's the fall man for a public statement which is really just Amazon deciding how much to invest AGAINST Sanders. Amazon is asking, "Are you going to be a problem here?"
Yes, I think Amazon has a problem.
7
Why does amazon, if you include the 900 million in "deferrals" (highly questionable), only pay 6% of its total earnings in federal taxes?
The hypocrisy is glaring. If you care about your workers, shouldn't you, at a bare MINIMUM, contribute as much to the state that provides for your economic success as they do.
You mention "our core business, consumer retail, involves... airplanes, trucks, and vans..." This means Amazon's "Core Business" is dependent on government infrastructure and workers to survive. But you use loopholes, "deferrals", and whatever other tools at your disposal to shirk you responsibilities.
Then, you have the nerve to play the martyr and ask for positive recognition? A pat on the back for being better than the lowest common denominator?
Amazon should be glad to pay it's workers a living wages, and offer them opportunities for betterment. Not because its the "Right thing", but because it's economically beneficial to your company.
And It should be ashamed that, after acknowledging that 15 is not enough, it still feels comfortable asking those workers to give a greater portion of their earned income to support the infrastructure amazon uses for its billions in earnings, than this company is willing to give itself.
If Amazon's paying workers more, investing in operation and its future, and still earning 14.5 billion a year, there are no excuses left. PAY FEDERAL TAXES.
6
Amazon should have sued Trump for interference with their economic advantage when he ordered the post office to charge them more money for package handling.
Fortunately for Donald, he has no concept of his job, even after three years, nor an understanding of the limited reach of the White House.
OK. So stop banging my head to get Prime. For me it's an insult to be asked at the whole foods checkout. If i need prime to buy groceries i just shop it elsewhere. As for their occasional proprietary series, like Bosch, e.g., find someone who does have it, learn to download or screen capture, and be as independent as possible. Cushion the hammer!!!!
2
The rallying cry of the far left is to demonize billionaires and the rallying cry of the far right is to demonize immigrants. Interesting that both extremes have picked on two of the cornerstones that make our economy successful. Our priority needs to be to get rid of the con man in the White House. Trump's reputation is built on lies. The core lie is that he is a successful billionaire. The person that is best equipped to undress the con man is Bloomberg. In addition he can get the votes from the many disenchanted and even regretful republicans.
2
Amazon still doesn't pay any taxes. That's shameful.
4
So Mr. Bezos, the crown prince of the American plutocracy, tosses extra coins to the masses from his gilded tower of gold. Mr. Carney, have you spent even a day working shoulder-to-shoulder with a picker or packer at an Amazon Fulfillment Center? Are you familiar with Emily Guendelsberger's book "On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane?" She describes her own experience doing exactly what you apparently haven't: weeks of work experience therein; the agony of herself and co-workers from walking 15 miles a day and hundreds of squats. Of the dehumanization of being held to the functional and productivity standards of a robot, every second of her work time monitored and evaluated for efficiency.
And that part where she describes the vending machines that dispense OTC pain meds for free when workers swipe their badges, to pop like candy to quell the overwhelming physical aches and pain of the work? Is that really true? If not I'd push back hard; if yes, well you folks running Amazon are one sick group of people in my opinion.
You're not that much younger than me, so probably you too have familiarity with the original Star Trek TV series. Might pull up an episode (probably available on Amazon Prime) called "The Cloud Minders." (The people of Stratos City look down on the earthbound slaves who work their mines, their callous exploitation horrifying Capt Kirk.)
4
Oh right, HQ2, that absurd beauty contest for American cities set about because Jeff Bezos was jealous of the tax breaks the other rent-seeking billionaire, Elon Musk, was getting.
I also like how they contrast themselves so conveniently against other tech companies like Facebook and Google, in how people-oriented their business is. Yes, Amazon, the little online store that could with all of its warehouses, drivers and fulfillment associates. Pay no attention to the algorithms, robots and other technology pushing these associates to their breaking point, causing deadly accidents on our roads and overlooking dangerous and counterfeit products sold with impunity everyday.
4
I blinked and missed it. What about Corporate taxes?
2
Mr Carney
please explain why it is fair that Amazon paid zero or close to zero taxes in 2018 and 2019. Here is a link.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/amazon-federal-income-taxes-2019
Amazon was a "little" disingenuous with the following - Its summary of U.S. taxes included more than $1 billion in "federal income expenses," more than $2.3 billion in other federal taxes," including payroll taxes and customs duties and "more than $1.6 billion state and local taxes, including payroll taxes, property taxes, state income taxes and gross receipts taxes," Amazon said.
An employer does not pay payroll taxes, it collect the taxes from employees and forwards to the federal taxes.
According to an analyst, however, payroll taxes are ultimately footed by employees in the form of reduced compensation. Like the sales tax -- which fall on consumers -- the federal government requires companies to collect a payroll tax. Currently, all employees and employers pay a 6.2 percent payroll tax on wages capped out at $132,900.
3
I try to avoid ordering physical objects from Amazon because I have heard the horror stories about how its workers are treated.
5
Many of these comments want to vilify Amazon as a tax fraud. I have trouble following this line of reasoning, both for Amazon and other large companies. (Full disclosure: I have my own issues with Amazon's growth in the Seattle area and all that has come with it. But being a tax cheat isn't on my list of grievances.) The salient question is: "Do they follow all tax laws and regulations?" If so, then their maximizing their own tax position is no more egregious than any poster here deducting charitable donations or mortgage, etc. I find the scoldy finger waggling from Senators Sanders and Warren off-putting, if not downright hypocritical. If following the law is wrong, then change the law. Who does that? Oh, right: Senators....
Didn't Bezos just buy the Washington Post and cut a bunch of their benefits?
3
Love Amazon, really great company. We should probably nationalize it and expropriate Jeff Bezos' wealth.
3
Fifteen bucks an hour is chump change. Sorry, but it is.
4
Mr. Jay Carney, I think you forgot to mention these words in the article: ' T A X E S '.
yeah yeah yeah, you want us to be thankful but could you also address the fact that I paid more taxes than your whole company last year? unless amazon did not use ANY public resources (eg: roads, postal services, etc.)
2
Hello, Jay? When is Amazon going to start paying taxes on its billions in profits?
3
ATTN JAY CARNEY:
Please share this idea with your management. This is a turnout election, and the higher the turnout, the better for DEMocracy.
What if Amazon and others (they'll join) promised a huge (YUGE!) sale during the week after Election Day IFF national turnout exceeds XX% - enough to turn both the WH and Senate? Discount size could even be keyed to the official %.
There should also be registration-and-voting festivals EVery October weekend, keyed to EVery under-represented demographic, in CELEBRATION of the salad bowl America we want.
May be the DNC could organize those, but Your Part is to reward good citizenship with the one thing Americans love most - a BIG blowout SALE.
2
Jay, come to our Amazon fulfillment Center in Fall River, Mass. and work the midnight shift until 9am (Leave your LL Bean slacks at home), next day travel up to Nashua, NH and work the 2am-10:30am shift for distribution and customer delivery. Talk to the exhausted workers at both facilities and know the definition of the "walking Zombies". The work is exhausting, the workers are measured on every "touch" of every package or envelope. The seamy underside of Amazon is behind the warehouse doors and it's not so "Prime". Middle age house wives, single Moms and elderly should be retired folks lifting and loading 50+ lbs boxes at 4am so the customer can get it by 8am is a scene out of Charles Dickens... but we should cheer for Amazon's plantation mentality of the $15 offering!
Your party line PR message reeks of the cult message from Amazon HQ. I honestly thought you were above the fold, Mr Carney but now your message reeks of the "Prime" Kool Aid.
BTW, better get the hole repaired in those work slacks before the next press conference.
7
About that $15 minimum wage...
Context: The FCs had their Fall all-hands meeting when pay/benefits from the coming year are addressed. The Sr. Op. mgr. spent the majority of the allotted time hawking the importance of “the package!” -- the RSUs! (an average of 2/year for first 3 years); the monthly variable compensation pay (VCP)! (based on the site having met its production goals & parsed out based on attendance. Doubled for October-December when mandatory 50-60 weeks are enforced, it's the only opportunity to earn holiday “bonus”. ) So, yes, only a 5c-an-hour increase, but The Package!
One week later Bernie Sanders was calling out Amazon on warehouse conditions & pay. When the $15 was announced, it was curious. An impromptu all-hands meeting was called -- what were they trying to get ahead of?
The same Sr. Ops. mgr. was “thrilled” to announce that they “listened to [us]” (we were never asked); we'd rather have $ now than later. A $1/hr increase for non-new hires, making considerably less than $15, capping out at a $17.55 maximum after three years. The peasants cheered their unexpected reversal of fortune. But: no more stock & no more VCP. Package Schmackage! The peasants did the math; they would be LOSING thousands. There was booing; the ungrateful peasants were screamed at.
Forgive me if I don’t join Mr. Carney in clapping Amazon on the back for their specious, disingenuous gestures, but with the carpal tunnel and tendinitis, it’s too painful.
2
PEOPLE stop criticizing Amazon for not paying taxes!!!
They, and many other corporations and companies pay little to no taxes because of the Trump and GOP backed tax cuts!!
Start paying taxes, Amazon. Then you can begin to talk about what good your company is doing.
2
Aren't advertisements (including the gratis ones like this) supposed to be in a different font?
5
Amazon has destroyed many more jobs than it has created.
Please save us your pleas to be loved and thanked. Amazon is a giant, soulless corporation. The instant you were not useful, you would be surplused.
5
Thanks, Jay. Next I'd like you to pay your taxes at the standard rate, rather than the loophole-ridden 1% it was reported you paid last year.
4
As a side note, here is a VERY important point about Sanders and cannot be forgotten!
He had a heart attack and promised to releases his medical records which he had NOT yet done! He is physically unfit.
Read Jennifer Rubin's articled in the Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/10/warning-democrats/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most
Give us our money back, Jay.
2
The word "tax" or any permutation thereof does not appear in this essay. That tells you all you need to know.
1
"Why Bernie Sanders Praised Amazon?"
Because he's a hypocrite?
Who are you trying to fool? We know how terribly you treat your employees.
1
After college, graduating into a severe recession in which I observed things like fellow unemployed recent grads visibly losing muscle mass from malnourishment, and the gruesome sight of massive stacks of job applications (probably in the hundreds) for a single, mediocre entry-level positions, I shared an apartment with a roommate from Ghana. Part of the coping entailed silly, ritualized kvetch-humor about politics and economics. (One made-up vignette, for example, involved a patient lacking health insurance having his breathing redirected through his ear to keep the cost down).
My Ghanaian roommate seemed to relish this sort of humor, and coined a phrase "neck insurance" to designate concessions made be excessively privileged parties who may detect a guillotine being planned.
I think many of the concessions (most of all, the $15 minimum wage) in this essay would, to my roommate classify as "neck insurance."
What deeper scrutiny or measures could this NI hope to ward off?
MONOPOLY, POWER/WEALTH CONCENTRATION, ***PAY RATIOS***.
A reliable internet source computes:
"Per hour, he makes a whopping $8,961,187 — that's roughly 315 times Amazon's $28,466 median annual worker pay. An Amazon worker earning the $15 minimum wage would need to work about 597,412 hours, or 24 hours a day for about 68 years, just to earn what Bezos makes in one hour."
THINK ABOUT IT!!!
6
Good PR move for Amazon in increasing wages that they would have had to do soon anyway. Still, I guess it's something. If Amazon would just stay out of more of the few businesses that are still dominated by mom and pop stores, if there are any. I seem to remember books stores being one of those. But that was a long, long time ago, in an economy far away.
I believe that Amazon uses data gathered from its independent sellers to identify sales trends. If they see an uptrend in a high margin business, they go in direct competition with the independent. They are very much like an in-house foreign competitor. True, they do employ Americans. Of course that's out of pure necessity, isn't it?
How do they treat their employees? Well, there have been stories of them working people like dogs. A few months ago I had an Amazon truck pull up in front of my house. After it had stayed there for 1/2 hour or so, I looked out and saw the driver hunched over the wheel, motionless. When I checked again in a few minutes he hadn't moved. His head was still resting in the middle of the steering wheel. I went out and knocked on the window. The guy finally moved. He rolled down the window. When I asked how he was he said he was really sick, but would be moving soon. The guy looked like hell warmed over, cooled, and warmed over again. He stayed hunched over, sleeping/resting, for another 10 minutes and left. So, that was something.
3
This is an advertisement - mark it as such.
3
Oh, please.
You didn't bother to address
--- the Amazon quotas that result in warehouse workers peeing in bottles bc they haven't enough time to take a brief bathroom break;
--- the Amazon quotas for drivers that are similarly inhumane and cause a lot of dangerous driving;
--- Amazon's union-busting at Whole Foods (which it owns);
--- Amazon's cutting hours to avoid paying benefits after the hourly hike (so people are actually bringing home less per week, but can't find PT work elsewhere bc Amazon spreads those 30+ hours across 5 days);
--- AND (drum roll, please): Amazon hasn't paid federal taxes for at least two years (2018, 2019).
Amazon, you are a spectacularly lousy corporate "citizen." Destructive to humans, to their communities, to the Earth (with your excessive packaging and rush deliveries that encourage people to buy an item or two several days a week rather than one big shop once a month). Spout as much propaganda as you like -- we're not swallowing it.
Oh, and pssst: Nobody amasses a $150billion fortune by being a fair employer. Amazon, shape up -- and until you do, shut up.
And shame on you, NYT, for giving this rotten co. a platform.
5
I read through quite a few emails and everyone is on to you!!!
What is wrong with you people? You think you are immune from the forces of nature and the consequence and damage you do to the society?
How much money is enough? Step back and think for a while!
2
Sanders praised you for one thing that you did amidst a plethora of objectionable actions and practices.
Shut up, pay your taxes and begin an examination of all that you do.
3
An opinion from a senior VP at Amazon. Sure, okay. Life's a bowl of cherries. I'd love to see an opinion from someone filling orders on the floor at one of their mega-warehouses. Maybe a different opinion?
7
I have Amazon Prime, but I’m hobbled because I use a VPN and anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-phishing, anti-ransomware, a key logging blocker, and ad blocking software. Because of this, I only get half the value of my Amazon Prime subscription. Will Amazon give me a discount? No. They insist on having all my data—it’s their policy. I insist they do not—it’s my policy. So I cannot stream music or see Amazon series, some of which I would very much like to hear or see.
The New York Times politely requests that I allow ads, but does not limit the value of my subscription.
Amazon may have raised wages, but they are in no sense “one of the good guys”.
9
Amazon deserves high praise for taking the lead on the hourly worker wage issue. I would add that the company is also a leader in hiring and developing a diverse workforce at every level. However, we must not lose sight of the ultimate goal, a living wage. The only way America can regain the integrity and reputation of capitalism is to reach the point where every American who is working is earning a living wage. It is good to have a likeminded ally like Jay Carney in the upper echelon of Amazon. I am glad that he realizes that $15 is not a livable hourly wage. The time has come for America and the developed world to eliminate impoverishment. There is no sound moral or economic justification for us to tolerate it in the 21st century. Impoverishment is the ultimate source of many of our social ills. Americans must insist on policies and practices in the public and private sectors that move us toward this objective and not away from it. I want to encourage Amazon to continue to be a part of this journey because of the good faith the company’s leaders have already demonstrated and also due to the company’s great success, which spells influence. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Amazon raised its minimum hourly wage to $20 before the national election and agreed to year-end bonuses for all of its hourly fulfillment center associates?
3
If the minimum wage had kept the pase of inflation (article published by NYT) it should be $24.00
2
@Sandra M M
I read somewhere that but for the financialization of our economy the past 50 years, the minimum hourly wage in America would be $33.
2
Amazon has a good reputation for actually delivering the goods... Increasingly, we walk stores aisles looking for things we drove to the store to buy and, being too often disappointed, have now started making "Amazon lists" while IN THE STORE to not waste trips to any other stores. Our disappointment is NOT new, what's new is we have another, better way to get what we wanted in the first place. As for all the "Mom and Pops..." I'm old enough to recall tons of little stores managed, staffed, and stocked by the whims of the owners - and service, selection, and prices weren't all that great. Not really. And, too often, it was like they were doing us a favor to be there, "Take it or leave it." Amazon found a better way to move goods from factories to consumers without shoppers having to deal with "middle-men" of middling ability, varying views, and, "personal" personalities. Still, to avoid having to use a computer to order things, and wait for them to show up - we sometimes begged our "local favorites" and even the big guys - like Sears - to step into this decade... They didn't... They aren't anymore. There's very little I miss about dealing with appliance salesmen, etc.
1
@Johnny Woodfin
Stepping into this decade means having an environmental
model built into your business plan, and Bezos could certainly afford that.
1
Amazon is quick to brag about how many jobs they supposedly created, and the fact that they raised their minimum wage to $15 per hour. But they cower in fear of actually owning up to how they try to extort tax breaks from cities and states, as well as how they pay the rank and file 'Associates' diddly-squat, they pay their 'managers' and executives many times that amount per hour, and most of them don't even have the qualifications they list in the job description for them.
These are 'the chosen ones': the people who fall within a certain demographic (overwhelmingly white, male, college educated, between 23 and 36 years old, and never worked as an associate for Amazon. They typically hire these people from Target, Home Depot, etc., and some are hired just because they have left the military. Regardless, all of these people have no clue of how to do the job of a rank and file associate, and they wouldn't last if they tried.
If you're 40 or over (or they think you are), you will never get any promotion, no matter your qualifications. It's all based on age and favoritism.
But pushing paper, having pointless meetings with meaningless metrics and trying to force people to work faster, faster, faster, with no respite is somehow much more valuable than what a mere associate does every day.
There's no reason that Amazon shouldn't be paying every rank and file associate half of whatever the highest paid executive gets.
Don't buy anything from Amazon — ever.
10
I'm a pro-business kind of democrat, but this line sticks in my craw: "Amazon has plowed $270 billion into the domestic economy since 2010." The truth is more like the domestic economy has plowed $270 billion into Amazon.
And for some reason Mr Carney makes no mention of the vendors enslaved to the Amazon tech machine - which is essentially the only way to get their goods to market.
14
come on, Amazon is an old-fashioned union-busting company. Does the company have one unionized worker system wide? Also, what is the effective federal tax rate it pays?
9
Jay, will you now please explain to me the high turnover rate at your fulfillment centers (maybe not so fulfilling for your employees)and other facilities as well. According to various journalistic reports, including here in the NYT, the jobs are very demanding and the expectations very high. The $15/hr. seems very low for the amount of work required.
Also, please explain Amazon's tax reporting practices that yields a payment of zero.
Then explain how Amazon has practically turned a large city like Baltimore into a company town, even to the point of having the city government itself beholden to you.
I'm glad New York showed you to the door.
8
“While the United States may never restore the manufacturing sector to its 20th-century heights”
Ok. Now tell me why all retail and service jobs cannot be unionized like those manufacturing jobs during their 20th-century heights that were union jobs?
Let Amazon lead the way in encouraging their 500,000 - projected to soon be 1,000,000 - associates/employees to be unionized. As Jay Carney correctly points out if a company with Amazon’s size supports unions, it will impact all private sector employers and workers.
Of course, Amazon vehemently opposes unionization. And, of course, a Clinton/Obama neoliberal like Jay Carney will provide cover for corporate and billionaire interests over worker rights and interests.
Yes, Amazon’s $15/hour minimum wage, comprehensive healthcare, vacation, training and other benefits deserve to be applauded. But, let’s get serious, a unionize the Amazon workforce - workers at distribution centers, delivery, even the high paid programmers and scientists - everyone!
Unionize all jobs in America!
10
As an old lawyer, I'm used to the euphemisms of "false" advertising. Just as I and millions of others have seen on TV, Amazon's public relations department is busy trying to inform the public that it pays the tuition of its low end employees to go to school so that that they can leave the company. As the young lady who portrays one such person says, "That's insane." She's right, of course. Note the words in the op-ed: "prepays up to 95 percent of tuition and fees." Prepays? So am I to understand that it's a tuition loan? Up to 95%? Am I to understand that the "loan" could be 1% of the tuition? Regardless of its motivation and any benefit that might accrue to an employee, I'd rather have the truth.
6
Carney writes, "... the truth is that more than 40 million Americans earn less than the lowest-paid Amazon associate." Well, at least hundreds of thousands of these are people who work for the companies that do business with Amazon as third-party vendors. Some of these low-paid outside workers are the owners of struggling small businesses. Last year, my own small business, which relies heavily on Amazon sales, reported a significant loss, despite selling many thousands of items on Amazon. A Dec. 20 New York Times story reported that "Amazon collects 27 cents of each dollar customers spend buying things its merchants sell, a 42 percent jump from five years ago, according to Instinet, a financial research firm." So, while Amazon may pay its lowest paid workers better than many low-paid outside employees, it is squeezing its own suppliers, forcing them to make do with less.
Meanwhile, when we outside vendors have a problem, we often have no way to communicate with a knowledgeable Amazon employee who can answer our questions or resolve our problems. We must often settle for canned or automated responses that are entirely inappropriate to our situation.
We are the slaves to our Amazon robot overlords.
12
Very simple, if Bernie did not insist to increase the minimum wages , I am hundred percent sure they would stay $9 /hour. We all know that Corporations main goal is profit, obviously nothing wrong with that , obviously we don’t expect them voluntarily to take this step. Thanks Bernie! Mr. Bezos has the rights to make and spend his money the way he wants, but ? Without the workers he can not function. Bezos did the right thing. Thanks to him too.
1
Some of the posters here are demeaning Amazon jobs. That is the same thing as demeaning the hundreds of thousands of Americans that get up everyday and CHOOSE to work at Amazon.
Bernie was right to praise Amazon for increasing their internal minimum wage. However, when he takes a few digs at them on the campaign trail, just remember that you can buy Bernie's book at Amazon. Online. Two day delivery. For a low price.
I bet he doesn't complain about Amazon when he receives his periodic royalty checks. After all, they helped to make him a millionaire.
4
We have two competing models for businesses -- MacDonald's and family-run Chinese restaurants. One has thousands of people carrying out policies designed by leaders, and one has thousands of people carrying out policies they make themselves. The jobs they produce embody different ways of finding fulfillment in work -- either carrying out policies and obeying orders or making policies and succeeding or failing. How many of each of these sorts of jobs we want the economy to provide should be one criterion for the sorts of laws and regulations we make, but right now our criterion is which can survive and make more money. We have decided to judge businesses on profitability and on how much opportunity they provide for investors to make money, rather than on what sort of human beings they enable their workers to be while they are at work.
We have given control of our lives to an ahuman system that runs on the basis of some human values while ignoring others because it can create more goodies.
3
Good he acknowledges that Bernie was instrumental in Amazon raising its minimum wage, and that Bernie thanked them for doing that. We’re waiting to hear The Washington Post (owned by Bezos) and the NYT and corporations like Amazon acknowledge more of the commonsensical logic behind what The Bernie Movement is generally supporting.
3
Amazon is competing and winning, and as it wins it eliminates competition -- competitors get bought or go out of business. So if capitalism involves businesses competing with each other for sales so that customers win, competing for workers so that employees win, competing for raw materials and supplies so that the makers of these win, then Amazon is doing away with capitalism. If capitalism involves competing with customers, employees, and vendors for who gets the money from the transactions, but not winning these competitions and making them offers they cannot refuse, then capitalism needs an external force to preserve it and without that force it morphs into something else.
The internet by nature is one huge shopping center within easy reach of everyone; as such it should be a public utility rather than privately controlled by one of its vendors.
3
I'd echo the numerous criticisms here that, not only has Amazon benefitted from public infrastructure, public education, and a dizzying number of tax incentives (as well as all the publically supported research that went into creating the internet), it has contributed practically nothing back in taxes. The public is effectively subsidizing the wage increases that are described in this op-ed. Sure, many people here are happy to see improvement in the wages of Amazon workers. But so, so much more ought to be done--we are owed much more.
I'd also add that single payer healthcare may well reduce the costs of attracting new talent to Amazon. But starving the state of the wealth it needs to do just that is a step far, far backwards.
If you really care about the nation that has allowed you to thrive, pay what you owe us.
4
As with many employers, Amazon is likely pressured to offer higher pay as most quality workers are already employed. Altruistic it may seem but companies looking to hire are now forced to lure existing workers already employed elsewhere,thus Companies such as Amazon struggle to retain workers...Trainable young folks are in demand also.
Bernie's praise for Amazon being PC misses the mark as it should be directed to President Trump!
1
Jay, having read your OpEd and a dozen or so of reader comments, I'd like to add to the conversation in a different way. I'm going to say that if you're enjoying the tax benefits that other commenters believe you are, and if you have the business/jobs development and wage impact that you claim, it seems that you could have significant impact on developing strategies to bring healthcare costs down - a major concern across the economy acvording to election year polling. This is a tangible way to help yourselves as payers of vast employee benefits while helping millions of non-employee Americans who would potentially enjoy lower insurance, hospital, doctor and pharmacy costs as a result of your efforts. Amazon helping to create healthcare affordability would certainly be worth any tax benefits you've received as a US mega-company.
4
The question about Amazon or Walmart's addition to the USA economy, via jobs added or salary increases to $15 hourly, must be tempered by the numbers of USA jobs lost via the shuttering of small retail that can't match big volume purchasing power.
$15 per hour for thousands hardly makes up for the total losses of millions.
3
Has anybody else noticed that bookstores are coming back? We have at least four independent bookstores in Ann Arbor, not even counting the University of Michigan textbook stores and a couple of specialty used/rare book sellers. Yes, books are commodities in the sense that one new copy of a book is exactly the same as another. But none of us will ever read a million different books (one per day for over 2700 years!) and most don't even want to be in a warehouse containing them. So, book sellers who know their clientele can thrive even in the Amazon era.
1
While as you said, $15 should be the national minimum wage and we all agree Amazon can certain do more with the obscene tax cut you receive, It was thoughtful of Bernie Sanders to call and thank you. I assume he is the ONLY senator or representative who did so.
4
Amazon is far too big, and has way too much political and economic power. Companies like amazon must be broken up, they are in clear violation of anti-trust.
7
Thank you for writing this op-ed. I am now so grateful that Amazon doesn't have to pay any taxes whatsoever.
11
Dear fellow readers. Please consider a number of Jay Carney’s statements as misleading, or lacking precision. First of all, let’s recognize that while Amazon can rightly claim bragging rights to creating more jobs than any other corporation in America, a significant number of those jobs were created out of the destruction of small businesses that Amazon’s very business model displaced. Sure, new technology oftentimes leads to the diminishment or destruction of older, less efficient (a relative term) businesses. This is an economic reality of capitalism. However, claiming Amazon as America’s great job creator is only half the story. Mr. Carney’s claim that Amazon has 500,000 employees lacks precision. A great number of these employees are part-time and/or seasonal employees. Part-time staff do not have access to the same benefits as those highly paid software engineers, marketing and other full-time positions. Moreover, Amazon and its Amazon-owned affiliates (Whole Foods, Prime Now Shoppers, and other entities), purposefully restrict the number of work hours available to each employee in order to prevent them from qualifying under federal and state laws to be considered eligible for full-time benefits. So, while Amazon has every right to conduct its business within the law, let’s not allow Mr. Carney to mislead you in believing that Amazon is any better or more enlightened than its competitors.
10
As I read, I wondered about part-time and seasonal workers, too. And restricting hours, in order to save on benefits, is sneaky, sneaky.
3
Mr Carney . I see amazon trucks and fluid trucks filling up every minute of the day . I can see the environmental foot print your company leaves in my city of centennial Colorado. I do not understand why it appears the company is not running a fleet of natural gas or electric vehicles? With ALL the incentives that a state or city affords amazon I view the company as bad business . It appears that money is 1st and any responsible plan for the peoples health in the city is nonexistent. I also read the WPO and am an amazon prime member too . Just not a proud customer . Are my eyes telling lies ?
7
Those trucks (and the workers in them) do not belong to Amazon. They are sub contractors or sub-subcontractors.
4
How about paying some taxes? Amazon has put thousands of tax-paying corporations out of business. This country has been very good to Amazon. It's time for Amazon to pay its fair share of taxes.
11
Raising the hourly wage of workers at mega corporations, is certainly a good first start, but it's only the first half of the problem. The second, and perhaps more pernicious, problem is: why are mega corporations and their obscenely greedy executives paying paltry and/or no taxes on their gigantic profits and salaries? We used to have something called a "progressive income tax." It served two purposes: It graduated the burden of funding societal needs and projects that benefitted all segments of society, commensurate with what they could afford to pay" and it enabled those in the lowest and middle classes to have a fair shot of not being priced out of "little" things like affordable housing and maybe sending their kids to affordable college, so that they too could start getting decent paying jobs & paying their fair share of taxes. That doesn't happen where the president goes to Mara Lago to brag to the rich folks that he just made them so much richer. Nor does it happen when the mega billionaires somehow manage to pay no income tax at all.
7
Appreciate the effort on pay and benefits, but you can’t ignore the fact you pay little to no federal taxes. You move your products to your customers using our infrastructure but don’t contribute the taxes required to maintain it.
11
You know, for that "built on our infrastructure" reason, every corporation formed should have to allocate some equity to "public trust shares."
That way, if they grow like Amazon, the public would earn some of the same wealth creation.
In addition to taxes, society would participate directly in dividend distribution, equity appreciation, and wealth creation.
1
Hello Jay, vote for Bernie! It appears to me, some of your opinions are on the same footing, at least in writing. But as you surely agree, numbers alone have not much meaning. $15/hr is only one part of the working condition. Addressing social and environmental matters of this oversized firm are essential and demand a holistic approach. Keep the conversation going. Socializing is what created great societies.
8
Resonating to the positives of this piece while acknowledging the caveats of the critics, I'd like to shift the focus to a comparative observation about the economy of China. It appears to be a truth that millions and millions of Chinese in a few decades have been lifted out of poverty to what approximates the middle class. Amazon's success--and I am a consumer beneficiary--has certainly helped buoy as well the American economy and work force. Hearty congratulations to Mr. Carney for his eloquent essay and to the New York Times for publishing it.
@Edward R. Levenson
China and the United States started at different places. Yes, the new jobs in China lifted many out of poverty (working conditions are another issue). The new jobs in the US replaced well-paid manufacturing jobs, and are a big step down. Amazon exploits not only its workers, but its small marketplace vendors.
Mr Carney's "eloquent essay" is a slick PR piece.
2
A great way to tell corporations like Amazon how you feel about them is to stop buying from them. It's easy for now...until all the competition has been wiped out. The sight of the new Amazon stores littering our cities is revolting.
3
Last I checked, Amazon has received over $1 billion dollars in tax incentives.
That's on top of the $11 billion in profits they reported and still paid zero dollars in federal income taxes for 2018.
Amazon deserves far more scrutiny than they currently receive.
9
There are many comments on this piece that are critical of Amazon not paying more than $15 an hour starting wage. Some basic math. Amazon reports a TTM net income of 11.6 billion dollars. They have .5 million domestic employees. They have .75 million world wide employees. If they evenly distribute wage increases (not real world, but it makes easier arithmetic) in $1 increments, that costs them 1.5 billion dollars world wide for each dollar of increase. Or it decreases their net income by 12.5%. Do that eight times and you are going broke.
They report a gross profit of 74 billion, they spend a tremendous amount on Research and Development and General and Administrative expenses. In other words, they have consistently plowed an enormous amount of money into building their business.
Amazon has become as large as it is by competing in a relatively low margin business. An additional employee, following their business model is worth about $15,000 of profit. It takes a very large amount of money to set up the situation that will allow them to hire that next employee.
Maybe they can do better. If we do not applaud them when they try, maybe we can do better.
3
@AnEconomicCynic
How many tens of billions is Bezos worth? Surely the additional pay for the warehouse workers can be offset from the pay of Bezos and top executives. Can't he live on $1 billion?
1
Amazon was founded and built in sales tax evasion. It got away with it and still exists today. Now they are growing by getting away with free use of American infrastructure that we - others - pay for. If amazon disappeared tomorrow we would all be better off - some would be inconvenienced without their immediate stuff - but they and everyone else would be better off. Shut it down. It’s destructive and anyway not viable if it has to pay its own way.
6
Every profitable business owner and corporation needs to pay America the rent just like every working family that rents a home or apartment has to pay the landlord. Renters don't own their apartments and corporations don't own America. Nothing about this great country is free. All our systems -- education, healthcare, transportation, energy, communication, law enforcement and courts -- require money for maintenance and expansion and the cost of that maintenance keeps going up. No entrepreneur with a good idea can become a millionaire or billionaire without functioning systems. All I ask of Amazon or any other corporation or billionaire is to pay their rent to America.
9
“Praise”? Don’t get carried away.
If you want praise, start by giving Whole Foods’ part-time employees back their health insurance. It’d cost Bezos less than ONE day’s worth of income annually.
6
@Kathleen Breen Or Bezos could just come out in support of Medicare for All. Then ALL workers, part=time, gig, contract, freelance and self-employed, would have coverage and businesses wouldn't have to spend their money on benefit managers.
5
But in our post Citizens United system, corporate conglomerates like Amazon use their campaign donations to keep US policy making within the boundaries for taxes and regulations, that are most advantageous for profits.
Feb 1 NYT editorial--- “More Money, More Problems for Democracy --- Countering private campaign funding with public funding is the most viable way to limit the political influence of the wealthy.
Seattle gave registered voters $100 in “democracy vouchers” to donate to local candidates in its City Council elections last year.
Amazon spent $1.5 million, while city funding for each candidate was capped at $150,000. But it was enough to help several candidates win seats over Amazon’s opposition.”
And, how did Obama's press secy become Amazon's VP of global corporate affairs?
What's other countries' tax policies for Amazon, compared to US?
2
As someone who is disabled and lives in the middle of nowhere, Bezos is my hero; without Amazon prime my life would be much much more difficult.
@ridgewalker1 Amazon Prime is a fee designed to lock customers in. Given the market share of Amazon, it should be the first thing to go when the government starts enforcing antitrust law again.
I lived in Belgium and the Netherlands where Amazon is a small player and products are shipped quicker and cheaper (no Prime) than here in Chicago where they manage their own delivery. Next day is standard and reliable when ordered before midnight, 3h in the cities for a small fee.
3
Unfortunately for some, it hasn't entirely escaped the peoples' notice that Amazon.com and the Washington Post have something in common: Being owned by Jeff Bezos. What the Post says about Amazon AND Sanders tells us everything we need to know.
4
Amazon reinvested all its profits into investment spending, like their new stores where you grab and go without having to check out in any way. Because there were no profits, they paid 0 in federal taxes. That's how the system works. Investment is a good thing. Stock buybacks, I'm not so sure that's good...
However, Washington state requires Amazon to pay taxes, and they do at the state level.
1
If you want to increase taxes on the rich and corporations, vote for Democrats who can get elected. No Democrat voted for Trump's big tax give-away to the rich and corporations, and if Democrats can take the Senate and Presidency in 2020, those tax cuts will be repealed and additional taxes will be raised on the wealthy. The key is to vote for Democrats who can win.
5
Many of the commentators seem to focus only on Amazon's tax situation rather than what I think is most important: Amazon provides a great and convenient service for millions of people, and ingeniously provided a service that wraps free delivery into an entertainment business. This is the primary reason the company is so big: it is highly successful. As some have pointed out, Amazon's tax situation is the result of laws. Change the laws if you like, but don't blame Amazon for taking advantage of those laws. Mr. Bezos is lucky in having Mr. Carney make the best case possible for his company. That is not flackery. That is advocacy.
1
My wife says that when she went to policy school back in the 70s they taught that many businesses welcomed many labor regulations because they wanted to do the right thing by their employees but they needed a level playing field to compete.
That outlook seemed to recede into the background during the next three decades.
It would be good to see that outlook return.
5
If you have to go to such lengths to say how awesome you are maybe you're not so awesome.
2
Why is the NYT running a press release for Amazon?
When they start paying taxes, maybe I'll listen. When they compete on a level playing field, maybe I won't resent them.
I am just fine with them disrupting the delivery of goods and services to the extent they are providing increased convenience and savings to their customers. There is nothing sacred or pre-ordained about brick and mortar retail.
What is not OK is Amazon's exploitation of their workers and their communities. And avoidance of their fair share of tax liability.
8
Anyone who knows anyone who takes on a job at the Amazon fulfillment centers knows it is a sweatshop without the sewing machines. They have to offer $15 or more per hour because the primary job of the supervisors is to monitor the employee production and cull the less-than-required performing "associates".
The turnover is in the double digits monthly. The work is unforgiving and high pressure all the time. The jobs they have created come at the cost of jobs in the stores that try to sell through Amazon or against them.
Anyone proud to offer a high output job paying $30,000 a year and thinking that it is something to brag about, and that those employees should be happy to have those jobs...try working one for a month. And living off that generous wage without a second income.
8
Amazon paid ZERO in profit taxes. People like you should be ashamed of coming up with self serving propaganda like this, at the expense of Bernie, one of the few people in DC that have the guts to confront you and also had the grace to recognize when you do the decent thing.
5
Try also pay taxes from now on. It'll help
4
What a turncoat Bernie is. What about all those jobs the Amazon monopoly is squeezing out? How good will that be for American jobs and small business owners in the not to distant future. Give me a break.
1
Too bad we cant go to Amazon and buy/order affordable housing, cheaper medicines cheaper University tuitions.
3
Anybody who falls for Sanders’ rhetoric is just not paying attention. He is a mirror of Trump on the left. His disdain for women of intelligence and power is very telling as well as his problems getting along with people in Congress that he needs to work with. I, for one, am not that gullible. Having another prima Donna in the WH is not my idea of a country resisting tyrannical domination. Give me a Biden who doesn’t seek to destroy his opponents as a matter of routine like Bernie and his bro’s do. Congratulating Amazon is patronizing.
2
@Dr. Diane
Ok...sure.
Guess he's pulling the wool over his 71% women run staff. Guess his having the most women donors, they too must be gullible. Over half of his million wo/man volunteers are women.
The man is running the most diverse campaign with the most diverse donors.
But these millions of women are just no paying attention according you Dr. Diane.
Ya think...maybe, just a slight chance...it's you that is wrong?
BY the by Dr. using the pejorative "bro's" is racist and sexist. But you know this 'cause your paying attention and aren't gullible.
Doctor, heal thyself.
4
Minimum wage in Massachusetts in 1972 was $2.50.
$2.50 in 2020 dollars is $15.30
So, sir, your great company’s raising hourly rates to $15.00 doesn’t even get your employees back to 1972 minimum wage. Something needs to change in society.
3
A vote for Sanders, Warren, or Buttigieg in the primaries is a vote for Trump in the general election. Sanders and Warren because of their Looney Left policies. I will support either one if nominated but would concentrate on winning the Senate since either will lose to Trump. As for Buttigieg, most, not all but most Democrats are open-minded when it comes to a gay man. However, most of the rest of America isn't. This is the most consequential election in the nation's history, we cannot take a chance on a socialist or socialism or on a homosexual.
I will praise Amazon when it pays its fair share of federal income taxes.
1
How about NYTimes starts charging for these advertorials as the sponsored content they ought to be, and identifies them as such?
Same goes for candidates' PR. I don't see why a bigger and bigger part of the op-ed page, digital or otherwise, should consist of companies and politicians advertising their virtues. Why is the NYTimes free real estate for that purpose? Does it make the public more informed, or more overwhelmed with crafted and conflicting messaging?
I would rather you take Amazon's money to host Amazon's PR campaign and identify it as such for me, with corresponding reduction in subscription rates, than take my money to feed me Amazon's PR as a "newsworthy" opinion. Can I be alone on this?
5
@Alex I think that's a terrific idea!
1
Carney & Bezos should place employees and customers
FIRST without a Single excuse Or Cover-up
SANDERS demands and requirements are fair and ethical
The Next PRESIDENT of the United States of America is
Bernie SANDERS....
So get with the program AMAZON and Jay RESPOND to all
your emails. Its looks really bad when you don't
1
To all the comments here decrying why the NYT would publish this obvious 'PR piece': this is an argument. If you don't like Carney's arguments, then make counterarguments. This is how debate works.
The NYT publishes Op-ed pieces from a wide variety of sources, including politicians of every stripe, scientists, policy experts, business leaders, labor leaders, current and past members of the armed forces, etc., etc.
Instead of arguing in favor censorship, I would recommend voting for politicians of honor (yes, they are out there) who won't be influenced by moneyed interests, and voting out the ones who are.
2
Well here’s an idea Mr Carney.
Ask your boss how his life would change if he was worth a measly 80-billion or 40-billion rather than 160-billion. It wouldn’t because nobody can spend 160-billion dollars.
Remember Scrooge McDuck? Sitting in his huge safe atop his pile of non-performing assets? Your boss is Scrooge McBezos.
We call it “obscene wealth” for a reason Mr Carney.
So spare me your pleas that Amazon is doing what it can to help its employees. No, Amazon is planning for the day when robot tech can replace those greedy little minions. No need to pay them. No need to give them benefits. Turn them on and turn them off. Slave labor without the actual slavery.
3
Why Jay Carney is trying to kill two birds with one stone
He's attempting to exonerate Amazon and take down Sanders.
Jay Carney is the former White House Press Secretary to Obama. Let that sink in after you've read this neo-liberal nonsense.
So, pay your taxes Amazon!
We don't want to hear it.
Does everyone remember that amazon patent that was uncovered, for a worker's cage?
Do you remember the countless articles of employees being subjected to intensive security scans before they enter and leave amazon warehouses?
4
This is corporate propaganda on why they don’t need to pay taxes.
3
Will the New York Times please follow up with actual Amazon employees? Unfortunately I'm sure mandatory NDAs mean they're precluded from voicing criticism of a corporation notorious for exploitative labor practices. Penalized for bathroom breaks, racing to fulfill orders timed by robots, and trying to make do with the <$2000 leftover after taxes at $15/hour, which Bezos makes in seconds.
How fortunate for Bezos that he has someone so well-versed in political doublespeak doing his PR bidding.
The damage Amazon has wrought on the environment, public infrastructure and services, and reasonable expectations of fair working conditions cannot be understated. They are a deplorable company and I am seriously disappointed in the fawning corporate drivel the New York Times has been churning out in its op-ed columns.
3
What I want to know is when Amazon will pay its fair share of taxes. Period.
5
Amazon is not just a way for consumers to buy things with a minimum of effort. It is in fact a tech company, too. Amazon Web Services brought in $9.95billion in just the 4th quarter of 2019, which was 11% of total revenue in that quarter.
In short, the "tech piece" of Amazon generates nearly $40 billion a year in revenue.
1
@Steve Right, and might possibly be subsidizing the loss lead of their retail business. Garden-variety anti-competitive behavior.
3
Workers at Amazon fulfillment centers are treated very much like slaves. Yes, they may make $15 an hour -- but they are expected to WALK 15 to 20 miles EVERY NIGHT. I met one young man who had worked there for six months. His weight dropped from 185 to 135 -- and he wouldn't have been fat at 185. Fifty pounds was too much for him to lose.
Most employees at Amazon fulfillment centers are not employed by Amazon, but by a middleman. They're used during the Christmas season and promised that if they do good work, the company may hire them full time. But only a handful are asked to stay on after the busiest seasons. So you have a work force that is employed only a few months out of the year, often in areas where other work is difficult to find and where employers -- contrary to the author's assertion -- do NOT pay $15 an hour.
Amazon is an evil company doing evil things. Do not believe a word of this op-ed.
4
Blaming Amazon for local businesses demise is the same mentality that blames Wal Mart for the same thing. In neither case is it the companies fault. It's the local population's decision to opt for what they conclude is a superior service.
2
This has to be viewed in the context of the benefit to Amazon if the federal minimum wage were increased. More customers. More sales. If a significant percent of the U.S. population had increased (or in many cases any) disposable income, that would increase consumer demand. Seeing as Amazon sells, well, everything to all demographics, they would stand to benefit significantly from the increased purchasing power and resultant increase in consumption across the board.
When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's AT&T was a monopoly but the Western Electric plant in my home town was unionized and provided the kind of full time employment with benefits that made it possible for the middle class to buy a house, raise a family and send kids to college. Amazon is now a virtual monopoly whose network of warehouses are built with local tax subsidies, staffed by non-union labor and pay no federal tax. 'Shareholder value' sends all the gains to investors while working folks have to borrow in order to afford child care, furniture, healthcare and higher education because the rent is so high. How do you justify that?
2
Amazon does a lot of good for our economy and makes for an easy target for politicians looking for scapegoats. BUT, Jay Carney making this argument highlights why those same politicians are right about the corrupt relationship between big business and Washington. Carney leveraged his work at Biden's VP Office and the White House to land a huge paying job at a corporate titan because of his political influence and connections. Carney is a perfect example of why there is such a disproportionate influence of major corporations on policymaking. Look at what Amazon pays in taxes. They buy influence. Carney is part of the problem as is the system that allows him to cash out on his brief time in government.
3
Amazon controls one half of Internet sales. That is too much power for one company.
Enforce our anti-trust laws.
9
@McGloin "Controls" might not be the right word.
I am trying to let this sink in. The Federal poverty level for 2019 was $27,750 for a family of four. For a family of five, add 4400 dollars. $15 per hour computes to $31,220 for a full time employee working 40 hours per week. So at best, the $15 per hour wage is about $300 per month above the poverty level.
In Washington State, where Amazon is headquartered, the median income for 2018 was $74,073, more than twice the income for a Amazon employee.
With the Amazon CEO as the richest person on the planet making billions of dollars, their goal should be making the wages of their employees rise well above the poverty rate.
While they are doing that, they need to bring their employee injury rates down to at least industry levels.
7
Senator Sanders is right to praise your $15 per hour minimum pay initiative - it's a step in the right direction. But it's a baby step. The bottom line is that Amazon can afford to pay its employees more, and can also afford to loosen up the inhumane rigor it demands of its employees. Heart monitors and footstep counting to make sure a person doesn't fall behind pace are exact as dystopic and stressful as any reasonable person would think. You don't need to do this.
And for the sake of an American economy that works for the middle class, please pay your god-darned taxes already.
8
The author should also admit that Amazon can afford to pay $15+/hr as entry-level wages because it squeezes far more output from each labor hour. A retailer or warehouse business that is not as efficiently run as Amazon can not afford that as easily. Amazon is also notorious for its fast-paced and stressful environment at the corporate level. Those wages are not paid without a trade-off.
4
It's ironic that Amazon is arguing for a federal minimum wage increase to $15 per hour, given that Amazon's decision to raise its own minimum wage to $15 per hour could reasonably be interpreted as the best evidence AGAINST the need for a federally mandated increase to $15 per hour.
First, Amazon is arguably the most successful and profitable company out there right now, which means it is in the best position to offer the highest minimum wage. If the highest it can go is $15 per hour, then doesn't that suggest that other less-profitable companies may not be able to have a minimum wage that high and still be profitable?
Second, Amazon's (and other companies') decision to raise their minimum wage shows that when there is a favorable business climate, employers often pay low-skilled workers well in excess of the federally mandated minimum.
Those in favor of an increase to $15 per hour need to understand that this is a 100% increase over the current minimum wage, and that such a rapid and massive increase could have some serious negative economic consequences. An increase of the minimum wage likely is overdue, but the increase should be gradual and modest in size in order to minimize the negative externalities. An increase to $15 per hour could further erode an already diminished tax base, which would further reduce the government's ability to provide support to those in need. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
1
I am a economic development and sustainability professional. Carney is not being sufficiently truthful in his claim that Amazon adds jobs to the American economy. Maybe, but more likely maybe not.
Amazon (like any retailer or service provider) is not a net wealth generator or job generator except under certain conditions - their existence actually stimulates more spending than people would do otherwise (without their existence). And from the standpoint of a national economy - the effect depends on where the products it stimulates more consumption of are made - i.e. if their operations stimulate more spending, but it is for foreign products, they might be a net negative impact on the local economy.
Wealth is created when humanity converts something of nature into something of value to humans. The rest of us (including me) just spread around wealth created that way. Our economy's unsustainability is fundamental - we are using up natural capital and resources. As noted nearly 50 years ago by
EF Schumacher, were are consuming our capital and confusing that for income - and that any business what consumes its capital will soon be out of business.
So Amazon, I challenge you to do an actual net impact study of your operations on the US economy. Subtract all the jobs lost by people at retailers who can't compete with you, and all the products made by other countries that people are consuming instead of something domestically made. Let's see some real numbers!
2
Why are so many Amazon warehouse workers still saying that they’re be treated like robots? And why have so many of these same workers suffered debilitating injuries on the job or been summarily fired when they failed to meet Amazon’s impossible productivity requirements. I’m sure you’re receiving a million dollar salary for this propaganda piece, Jay, but we’re not buying it. Amazon also needs to pay it’s fair share of taxes.
American Workers for Sanders 2020!
12
The equivalent of a $15 minimum wage is what I was making almost 30 years ago, when in my mid to late 20s.
Even then, 25-30k a year salary made it a challenge to get by. I can't imagine stretching that amount of pay these days when practically everything costs twice as much.
2
@Mikeweb If I was making $15/hr in 1990, I would have been over the moon. Minimum wage was $3.80/hr.
1
Amazon has done more to make America great than any other single company. As a retired rural physician I find my life being made better by Amazon every day and that is true for so many Americans. After finishing this post I am going to Amazon to send my niece two books of poetry.
1
@Mike Murray MD
Go to work in one of their fulfillment centers for a week or two then get back to us.
6
What Jay didn't tell you was that when they raised the employee's pay rate to $15/hr, they also took away their stock grants.
Amazon is always and will always be a race to the bottom. This is one of those op-eds, that the comments will tell a more accurate story.
8
The issue isn’t $15/hour per se. It’s how can we increase the % of full time workers actually making enough to cover basic housing, food, transportation, health care, etc. After WWII, if you could “fog a mirror”, and were willing to work hard, you could get a job “down at the plant” and make enough to buy a small home, car, get weekends off, and mom could stay home with the kids. That was my dad. Now, for a young couple to experience my parents life, they both better be making $15/hour, with good benefits, and that leaves the kids on their own. If you live in Silicon Valley you better make $125K per year at the absolute minimum. While Amazon workers scurry through the day like ants on a hot griddle, they need to come home to an adequate dwelling that provides some security and peaceful rest. The high anxiety of struggling to survive is taking its toll across blue collar America.
7
As others have noted, a living wage in America is now $22-25 an hour. $15 per from the richest man and company on the planet is offensive. The fact that Amazon not only doesn't pay taxes but robs the American taxpayer of $250 million a year in subsidies is even more offensive. The list is endless against Amazon. They deserve nothing but condemnation.
11
Don't blame Amazon for not paying taxes, blame Congress. Amazon is following the tax laws as they are written. Many other companies pay little to no taxes as well due to our tax laws. If you want more tax money to come from Amazon, aim your fire at Congress. A lot of Democrats and Republicans have chosen to write the laws this way, its not all from one party even.
4
This article is so one-sided it's hard to know where to start. Amazon, (along with other tech giants), continually buys up or steals ideas from companies and sellers that it has a direct relationship with. This has been reported a number of times in this very paper. Working conditions for those employees given at that minimum wage are awful, and though no complete data is available, some reports indicate that the rate of injury is higher at Amazon facilities than other similar warehouses. Amazon's infamous contest to see what city/state would give it the most money to open up an office they wanted to open anyway is probably just the tip of the iceberg of the numerous ways it tries to bilk tax-payers. Indeed, I'm sure Bernie himself wouldn't be too happy about the title of this piece. Just because he's happy about the increase in the minimum wage, doesn't mean he endorses Amazon's many other activities.
5
I'm tired of corporations telling us we should be thankful.
All of the benefits that Amazon gives its employees are a great start, but Mr. Carney states himself it's not enough. Fifteen dollars an hour is barely a livable wage in my city. The tuition payment program, "Career Choice", only covers a two year certificate program. Amazon insists that it's not using Career Choice to sever their own needs and encourages its employees to study a subject they are "passionate about"; that is, so long as it's one of the approved certificates from the short list curated by the company. And must be done of a 40 plus hour work week. It's no wonder only about 5% of employees use this benefit. It feels like the company store of the 21st century.
So while Amazon preens and tells us how much good we all owe them for, remember that these "associates" (a shameful thing to call the people on whose sore feet your company runs) have no say about how they spend their hundreds of hours a year at work. Amazon is hostile to their unionization efforts because they might actually be forced to give them what they deserve. And as they earn their good-enough-for-now wage those at the top earn as much as all of us combined, many times over.
303
@Josh Excellent comment but fear that AMAZON is the future and present for so many MILLIONS of Americans.Appears a trifle hypocritical of Mr. Sanders to criticize the big technology firms which are taking over the country and the world, yet in a sense grovel to Amazon. Agree about company's anti union efforts, but in my view labor unions, importance of, has been diminishing for decades in our life and in the Western world in general.AOC was right, I must admit when she opposed AMAZON in her neck of the woods.Is that the same Jay Carney who was one of the press secretaries for Obama?
6
@Josh When unions come to Amazon, the future will be brighter for American workers. The day will come. Unions must be resurgent if the US wants to rebuild the middle class.
Unions are as American as apple pie.
26
@Ricardito Resisting Unions coming to AMZN? Are you kidding? There are plenty of unemployed people ready to take the place of those who are fired because Amazon employees attempted to organize.
I'm not anti-union, just realistic.
As for raising the minimum wage, it's a complicated formula. Certainly, eight and nine figure CEOs can afford to at least adjust the minimum wage for today's cost of living. But the marketplace prices labor based on the skills that the laborer brings to the table. If this is a skill that anyone possesses with little training, well then you draw your own conclusion.
As for rebuilding the middle class, who's even talking about that? Certainly not the present administration. And I know the Presidential hopefuls are doing a lot of talking but no one is really saying much.
6
When the big companies raise the minimum wage to $22.00 an hour.... there will be something to write about. Where I live, Vermont, given high cost of rent, health care, food and heating houses in winter, an hourly wage of $22 is the base wage folks need to make to live on 40-50 hours of work per week. Most low income people have two and three jobs...very stressful living. And frankly, no way to plan ahead, get on the home ownership ladder, save for retirement, nuthin’.... 15 is a start, but you still need two jobs on that one....
188
Maybe you should mention that to your illustrious Senator, who in 40 years in Congress hasn’t managed to get a single bill of significance signed into law, much less one that sets a minimum wage!
25
@insomnia data
and what do you do that DESERVES to be paid $22 dollars an hour? Do you really believe that those people sweeping hallways, flipping burgers and otherwise performing menial labor jobs contribute enough to the corporate income to merit $22 bucks an hour?
If you do believe that are YOU willing to pay the increase product costs necessary for those companies to continue to exist and HAVE employees?
If the individual is in a low wage job it is THEIR responsibility to get the training and skills to improve THEIR lives. If that individual has managed to bring babies in this world it is STILL THEIR responsibility to improve their own lives and that of their spawn.
Stop demanding others pay your way and just hand you things.
As insulting as you and other may find it paying a burger flipper 22 bucks an hour will either cause those companies to close, force them to automate and reduce their workforce or raise prices so that dollar special at McDonalds becomes the 10 dollar special for the same burger.
Grow up and take responsibility for yourself and your own future
3
@Rona Levine Oh, give it a rest. Sanders' record on, for example, veterans affairs is stellar; he's worked with other Senators on a variety of bills and gone against the grain (as in the Iraq War vote plenty of times because it was the right thing to do. You're just reciting the Hillary Clinton mantra. She's done as a politician, but not as a person with not a shred of class or decency. She lost to the worst candidate to defile the Oval Office. And forget the Electoral College whining. Everyone knew what the rules of the game are. Hopefully Gabbard's lawyers will take her to the cleaners for her slanders and defamation.
2
A few problems here.
First, Amazon decided to raise its minimum wage in the context of one of the tightest labor markets this country has seen in at least two decades. Doing the right thing for workers should not be confused with the company doing what it needed to do to hire the people it wants. Just look at Taco Bell’s recent decision to pay its store managers $100K a year.
Second, Amazon loves to cite how many jobs it has created. But raw job creation must be analyzed in the context of how many jobs Amazon has eliminated, too. The company’s negative effects on small businesses is well-documented, but even employees of larger companies are losing out. I think Macy’s decided to close over 100 of its stores last week, at least partly due to competition from Amazon.
Finally, Amazon’s business model is based on change and innovation. That’s good, except that Amazon will not hesitate and has not hesitated to close a fulfillment center once it stops making sense for the company’s bottom line. The community and its workers are then left with nothing, except perhaps training “certificates” to use in a different town. And in the long run, there will be few workers to speak of assuming that any of Amazon’s many research investments in labor-saving robotic technology pay off.
185
@M All good points. The jobs Amazon displaces (e.g. Toys 'R Us, Sears, Brookstone, ...) are concentrated in fewer locations too, adding to the inequality between metro areas and the rest of the country. This is a fact of life but everyone should at least not be dishonest about it.
At least Jeff Bezos is not a cruel psychopath like the Republican oil barons, but he could take a leaf out of Bill Gates' and Warren Buffett's book and do a little more.
9
@M
so you thinks Amazon has an obligation to NOT do everything they can to maximize revenue.... going so far as to demand that the lack of innovation at other companies is something Amazon is responsible for. That as a result they, Amazon, must not innovate and must not seek the greatest profits for its shareholders.
you are claiming Amazon's success should not happen just so other poorly performing business don't have to innovate, evolve and yes close down when they cannot compete.
That is just sad.
5
@mike Where did I say any of those things? I'm not in the business of moralizing about Amazon's actions, which are perfectly reasonable given the rules currently in place.
My comment was meant to call out the heavy spin and lack of context in this piece. As you suggest, Amazon has an obligation to maximize revenue, and it's disingenuous for Jay Carney to suggest that Amazon is interested in employee welfare, job creation, or the long-term interests of the communities where it works. People should focus on changing the rules to the extent that they, like myself, care about any of those things.
5
Elizabeth Warren is.also for a 15$ min wage, but I dont see Amazon championing her, probably because she has talked about breaking up big tech companies like Amazon, and she is probably right.
3
In reading this, I can't help but think back to the famous "HQ2" search a few years back. States and municipalities, large and small, were practically falling over themselves to offer larger and larger tax incentives that would have further gutted their ability to pay for basic public services and infrastructure like education, clean water, adequate roads and public transit, etc. All necessities that allow Amazon to be the successful business that it is, by the way.
Amazon's attitude to their own workers isn't perfect, but is getting better and should be admired. Their attitude toward the rest of us and society in general? A totally different story.
54
@Mikeweb
They demand tax incentives in every po-dunk town they set up a 'fulfillment center.'
Their HQ-2 search? That happened because Elon Musk got some giant tax incentive and Jeff Bezos was peeved.
Amazon has the second largest employee turnover of any Fortune 500 company, so I doubt people love it there.
Bezos now squeezes every last drop of blood out of his online vendors after, of course, having put ma and pa out of business.
This column is nothing but an ad for Amazon. Fortunately, many of us have them figured out now. The comments are marvelous. A few years ago, everyone would have been breathlessly thanking Amazon for not having to go to the store to pick up toilet paper anymore.
The pendulum has swung.
9
What does Amazon pay in taxes? And if you're so concerned for your employees' welfare, how about not treating them like mice on a never ending treadmill?
3
How about if Amazon just pays taxes like every small business in America? If Amazon tells its shareholders its net profit was: $10.1 billion then pay taxes on the 10,100,000,000.00 dollars.
And really, a former, high-ranking Obama staffer parlaying that experience into a job for a giant corporation is the rot in our current system that Senator Warren will hopefully get the chance to fix.
5
I'm a Sanders supporter. I'll have to give Amazon some credit also for saving the series "The Expanse." It is among the highest quality shows on TV. And it sure isn't any propaganda for corporatism--quite the opposite!
1
...Bread and Circuses...
I really like Amazon. I order from them all the time because it's easier than driving all over the place to stand in line and not even necessarily find what I want. However, Amazon is an American Company and being an American Company calls for some patriotic and moral actions. I understand that Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Jamie Diamond are joining together to find a way to bring health care to their employees. How's that going? I'd like to know. I also understand that Amazon donates two billion a year toward homelessness and eduction. Is that true? I'd like to hear about that. It's possible that a large corporation can do all the things our government is not willing to do. Tell me! I want to know.
2
I liked President Obama, but I am dismayed by the number of former Obama administration officials who have become buckrakers and shills for corporate America.
8
I just can't help but remember what Barney Frank's concern was when it came to Bernie Sanders.
And - to be honest - I'm just sick and tired of showboating populists and their shallow rhetoric.
2
@Jbugko
Yet it was with the help of Senator Sanders that Amazon workers won their Fight for $15.
https://slate.com/business/2018/10/amazon-15-an-hour-bernie-sanders.html
https://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21492/jeff_bezos_amazon_15_minimum_wage_bernie_sanders
https://www.businessinsider.nl/bernie-sanders-amazon-fight-minimum-wage-raise-stop-bezos-act-win-2018-10/?international=true&r=US
Barney Frank working for his Wall Street Bank didn't/hasn't done squat.
That showboating populist has helped over a million workers double their wages. Not a promise. A "Plan". A tax scheme. But getting outside of congress and onto the streets helping American workers directly.
Name another current politician who's done as much.
"Shallow rhetoric", says the kettle as it gazes into the mirror.
2
Ok, so here’s the deal:
Businesses have been getting away with paying their lowest-paid workers less than it costs them to live. The Federal Hourly minimum wage has been $7.50 since the Flood.
In response to bad press and ill will, some companies, including Amazon, have raised their minimum hourly wage to $15; sometimes this has been in reaction to increases required by local laws. It it’s progress, even if slight and late.
But if you are called to work just one hour a week, or 10 hours, or even 20, you still can’t live on $15 and one way or another America’s taxpayers are hoodwinked into making up the difference.
The division problem is simple. Trump claims low unemployment and a big increase in the number of jobs. But it still doesn’t work if a single worker needs two or three jobs to make ends meet, or if we count less than full time employment as a whole job.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
8
Nice self-promotion piece. Pay some taxes, and I'll take you more seriously.
7
Shouldn’t the title be “things”, not “thanks”???
1
A lot of people are going to take Mr. Carney to task here for being the high-paid shill of a company that is terrible for society.
The real question is why is the Times giving free space in its pages to the high-paid shill of a company that is terrible for society.
6
@Locho,
Obviously the NYT wasn't paid. In fact, the founder of Amazon owns a newspaper that's a direct competitor of the NYT (WaPo). Would you rather this newspaper censor their content?
And if you peruse these comments, it's obvious that most readers are taking Carney to task. And rightfully so.
Pretty horrifying that the NYTimes would publish this propaganda. The only reason Amazon raised the minimum wage in the first place was because of the Fight for 15 movement; they did it because of political agitation, not out of the goodness of Jeff Bezos's heart. The author's claim that Amazon cares about its workers is absolute garbage; the misery of workers in their fulfillment centers is ignored by this slimy C-suite tyrant.
6
Where's the part in your article where you talk about your company paying no taxes? Huh, guess that did make the final edit.
4
Why do you give these corporate hacks space in your newspaper to spew their propaganda? I read a news article the other day about how Jeff Bezos is finding it hard to spend all of his money. (This is after his ex-wife got her allocation of the ex-family wealth). He is spending $1 billion/year on Blue Origin; he bought a couple of NYC townhomes for $80 million; he's shopping for a $425 million house in LA. This is obscene. Amazon is trying to monopolize online retailing , has gobbled up competitors, and is forcing others to use their fulfillment services. Why do I want to hear from a former political hack who has sold his soul to this mega corporation whose only goal is to maximize profits?
4
@tanstaafl
I agree that it's insane to hear about Jeff Bezos having trouble spending his money. Why hasn't he started a foundation like Bill and Melinda Gates did to give money away to good causes? There's nothing stopping Bezos from doing some good with all his money, except maybe Bezos himself.
I remember when Amazon first started selling books and I was one of their first customers. Then I grew disenchanted and didn't buy from them for a long, long time. I am a Prime member but still don't buy much from them, using my membership mostly for the streaming service.
But, I keep telling myself this love/hate relationship will have to end soon. I've go a friend who's husband works at Amazon in Seattle making a much better than $15 an hour wage that supports his wife and two kids living on Bainbridge Island. And reading about the poor warehouse workers who can't go to the bathroom or who are injured for being pushed to go faster makes me sick. Instead of praising themselves for raising their minimum wage to $15, they should look into wage equity among all their workers.
The things Carney touts in this Opinion piece can hardly justify what the company has done to the environment in the name of speedy delivery. They should put their money towards figuring out less wasteful packaging and to help people understand that they don't need that widget in a day because three or five days is fine too.
3
Because Jeff Bezos owns WaPost.
I give you credit Mr. Carney for even getting published. In today’s environment saying positive things about large corporations is not popular. I assume that your past affiliation with Barak Obama helped. Still, you cannot overlook the negativity seething from the NYT reader’s comments. You will not get appreciation no matter what Amazon does now or ever. You should have learned that from the Long Island City fiasco last year. Classic class envy and rabid socialism rules.
Your headline is misleading to the point of trying to put Bernie in a bad light.
3
First, it’s outrageous that the Times doesn’t flag this column as an advertisement in the headline and at the start of the text. The column is simply a corporate puff piece, not independent journalism. The Times’ failure to do so is a breach of its claimed independence of opinion and news reporting from advertising influence.
Second, Carney’s boast about the number of jobs “created” by Amazon conveniently ignores the jobs Amazon has destroyed in local and other retailing. When those lost jobs are subtracted from the gross number of Amazon jobs, the net number of jobs really created by Amazon is probably zero or negative. The Times should publish investigative reporting on this at least alongside, and ideally instead of, Carney’s infomercial.
3
Hi, I’m Jay. Please enjoy this ad I wrote about the evil company I work for.
2
Why, exactly, did the New York Times publish this advertisement for Amazon? This is not an op-ed essay; it is nothing but PR.
3
Odd that the Times would allow an Amazon infomercial on its Op-Ed pages. An important discussion, but I'd rather the pen be held by impartial journalists.
4
Urgh, "fulfillment centers"? I tried, but the fourth time I read this bit of double-speak, I couldn't focus any longer on this blather. In case you missed it, amazon warehouse employees lead a mechanized, highly regulated labor-shop experience, where they are penalized for using the bathroom. They wet themselves to avoid failing to make maniacal quotas. This piece wants us to believe that Sanders gives a thumbs-up to businesses like this, and that this company is a leader in workers' rights. We heard the same nonsense from Walmart in years past. Have you seen how that company now employs self-checkout almost exclusively? So believe this drivel at your own risk.
4
Amazon, and especially its German and French language operations, actively promotes Antisemitism by describing some Antisemitic books as "unbelievable but True." And Amazon.de has refused to even defend this, it just says the book in question doesn't violate the German Youth Protection Law while ignoring the law against promoting Nazi ideology. I urge people to boycott Amazon until it stops promoting hatred of Jews.
How about your warehouse workers that urinate themselves in fear of not meeting their daily quotas?
2
Is this an opinion piece or a PR campaign?
2
Jay, being a Bernie Delegate from Maine in 2016, I’m totally confident in 2020 that — Bernie will definitively “win this thing” if, and only if, he speaks-out and ‘exposes’ EMPEROR TRUMP and this “Damn Empire” (as Bernie would say) and which is a Disguised Global Crony Capitalist Empire.
Clearly, Emperor Trump is “acting like an Emperor” as even mainstream CNN Chris Cuomo understands (and said earlier interviewing Jim Jordan) “this Trump is acting like an Emperor”, and as I’ve found in two years of weekly demonstrations in Portland Maine and Portsmouth NH, with my previous and new two-sided demonstration signs, which simply said:
DUMP
EMPEROR
TRUMP
(side 2 under an image of ‘Our’ American flag):
“We can’t be an EMPIRE”
and now my new 2020 signs simply say:
“Our Revolution”
To DUMP
EMPEROR TRUMP
(side 2)
GET ‘WOKE’ &
‘FOLK’ THE
EMPIRE
Which Get — BUD, MILLER, COORS, and Sam Adams beer truck drivers flashing their light, honking, giving ‘Thumbs Up’ and smiling! “He’s done.
Stick a fork in him, and take him off the grill”
2
Why does NYT publish an essay from an employee about their company as an ‘Opinion’ piece and not label it as an advertisement?
Maybe NYT should start a section called ‘Biased Opinions’, if it does not want to charge the companies advertisement fees.
5
But still...Why do we have a system where a few receive the lion's share of profit from work that others do? Without the employees, Amazon does not exist. Sorry. No applause here.
2
Politicians say things outside to get votes and media like to parrot those vote-getting lies all the time because that sells their news. Sadly the real facts are forgotten. Every major company today including GE, Apple, Netflix, Dropbox, Instagram, Canvas, Salesforce and 2 M more businesses use Amazon Web Services. They have generated trillions to value yet Bernie and Elizabeth shout, scream and lie to get votes. Glad Bernie called "jay" to thank. Truth be told.
Oh, this is a masterful piece of PR flak fluff. The working conditions, crazy quotas and surveillance that Amazon imposes on its employees is described on the first link below. Its campaign to get drivers to quit their jobs so they can be independent contractors and save Amazon from paying benefits in the second link. And wouldn't it be lovely if Anazon didn't use every device possible to avoid paying its taxes at more than a rate of 1.2 per cent (third link):
https://time.com/5629233/amazon-warehouse-employee-treatment-robots/
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/13/amazon-will-pay-employees-thousands-to-quit-and-become-business-owners.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-taxes-1-2-percent-13-billion-2019/
3
Does slavery at $15 an hour stop to be slavery? Does having a few dollars more in one's pocket make one a proud American?
1
Allowing a PR flak from a monopolistic behemoth, w a billion dollar CIA- NSA -Pentagon cloud computing contract that has its own gigantic WAPO mouthpiece, to opine, on your pages, is both depressing & revealing.
2
Carney, who once was a reachable journalist, has sold himself out. He first became a shill for Obama and now for Bezos and Amazon.
Working conditions at Amazon are horrendous; even serfs had it better. Many Amazon workers received wage increases, but fewer hours and, thus, lost their benefits. The company is also trafficking in dangerous knock off products. Amazon destroyed malls and, like Walmart before it, is destroying local businesses. Its once-heralded review system is now corrupt. Its door watch system, Ring, is now linked to local police and is part of our problem of surveillance capitalism (which includes Facebook, Google, and Amazon's business m.o.). Amazon's Alexa spies on people; it and Ring have been hacked; its drones are now disrupting neighborhoods; etc.
Carney is blind to all of that.
Upton Sinclair was right.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/254630-i-candidate-for-governor-and-how-i-got-licked
and
https://books.google.com/books?id=OqqpXJy-fRwC&q=It is difficult#v=onepage&q&f=false
3
Created job¡ They killed the retail business...
3
It is rather surprising to read this piece of under qualified “opinion” from NYT. It shows one important thing about Amazon though. They do think and believe that Americans are easy to fool.
2
You may have raised wages to subsistence levels for some but for millions of other small business people and small manufacturers who led solid middle class life styles before you, and to be fair big box stores, showed up. You not only drove small businesses into insolvency but you and your ilk shoved manufacturing out the door first to Mexico and then to China; it’s nice to think we will recover but we won’t there are just to many people of all stripes that don’t consider the larger picture which is destroying the Middle Class will eventually lead to their own loss of quality of life, if you live in big cities or rural towns the evidence is everywhere with the homeless sleeping on streets and rural kids dead ending it at a McDonalds. Inequality and giving up had a very large part in what allowed Hitler to rise in 1930s Europe, a few people apparently had everything( including from the numerous recent articles about descendants attempting to get back “ their” art from museums and countries ) while most were still suffering and starving as a result of the poorly designed treaty punishing the Germans for WWI. We all know how well that worked out, 7,000,000 Jews died 50,000,000 Russians and millions upon millions of average German citizens who wanted a war no more than does the average America want our wars in the Middle East to continue. There is an undeniable connection between historical events resulting from great inequality, let’s hope it doesn’t show up in America.
1
While condemning Amazon the Socialist camp is purchasing almost all of its supplies from it.
This stuff is too good to hide.
They say that they have no choice if they are to save money.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bernie-sanders-staffers-complained-about-the-campaigns-use-of-amazon-a-frequent-sanders-target/2019/12/28/65b32350-265c-11ea-ad73-2fd294520e97_story.html
2
@Simon
Did you even read your own link?
They explain why they are buying from Amazon.
Also, NOWHERE does it say "they have no choice if they are to save money".
Lies and hyperbole. Must be a former Pete now Bloomberg operative. Sad.
Be better Simon.
1
more self congratulating......he did not mention Amazon pays NO taxes while it uses more USA infrastructure than any other company. and if he says that $15 is not enough , what is stopping Amazon from paying $25 or even $30 an hour...a REAL living wage. Don't fool your self.....they can afford it. Nah....
1
Hey Jay, here's a better idea: PAY TAXES.
I pay more in taxes than Amazon.
Stop tooting your own horn.
4
Nice try on the spin Jay. I see that you were a White House press secretary before joining Amazon. It shows in your article. The damage this company has done to small business throughout the world is deplorable. $15.00 per hour! you should be ashamed of yourself not patting yourself on the back. I can only imagine what your benefit package is.
Amazon will remain on my boycott list.
3
Thank you oh merciful corporate master Carnay for the crumbs that thee has deigned to share with the peasants who till your soil so you may live in the righteous splendor and luxury that you are entitled to and so richly deserve.
3
I look forward to reading an Op-Ed piece by an Amazon worker fired for leading a unionization effort that the company was trying to crush. It probably won't happen because the capitalist press, which is what the New York Times is, is a mouthpiece for the capitalist class and only rarely permits such voices to be heard and then largely to maintain the appearance of a breadth of views when in fact a narrow range of acceptable pro-capitalist opinion is ruthlessly enforced.
3
As others have pointed out how about paying your fair share of taxes instead of avoiding them. It is not like Jeff Bezos is hurting for money. As for workers, I have had friends and acquaintances that have worked for Amazon, compensation is one significant aspect but so is being treated as a human who has a life outside of Amazon. Getting calls and texts at all hours of the day 7 days a week with the expectation of the employee to respond/act is absurd and disrespectful. When a delivery person using their own vehicle doesn't have the time to say "hello" because he or she is on such a short time leash something is wrong in your corporate culture. Your employees and your customers are not robots, stop treating them as such.
You are heavy users of our transportation infrastructure, start paying for it please.
5
"We have already done many of the things politicians demand of America’s leading businesses....." Except pay your taxes! If our politicians aren't demanding this of Amazon, well, it might be that revolving door that Carney himself benefited from.
Taxpayer bought roads, bridges, and airports, make your business possible. So, open your checkbook!
3
For as much as many people seem to hate Amazon (with a passionate hate), I actually like them. I think that AOC was severely misguided when she worked against them moving to New York or New Jersey, wherever it was. Adding jobs, good paying jobs, and they were willing to improve the infrastructure of the city, and she got them shut down? They're creating jobs, and nobody has one there now. Jay Carney, keep it up.
Corporations are legally obligated to make as much money as possible. Part of that means paying as few people as possible as little as possible to get the job done. A well-run company will then factor in the idea that a satisfied (or "engaged") employee does a better job, and that helping workers get better at their jobs or move up can redound to the company's benefit - and adjust their compensation accordingly.
America is a corporatist society, and at least one major party is all-in on the idea that corporations are simply the greatest, and the other party is at least half-in.
But companies are not heroes. They don't "create" jobs - not out of the goodness of their non-corporal hearts. They need people to work for them so they can make money.
Maybe your average, generic corporation conducting business responsibly doesn't deserve knee-jerk vilification. But it also doesn't deserve a statue in the park.
The minimum wage raise was a nice gesture but it actually hurt many full-time workers, because they also cut stock options which would have been worth more than the pay increase.
This is the NYT article from about a year ago when they "raised" the wages which explains it in detail.
www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/technology/amazon-workers-pay-raise.html
1
"$15 should be the very minimum". Vote Sanders - no other candidate will do more for workers in America and throughout the the whole world.
2
A masterclass of misdirection. Not one word about the actual working conditions themselves. The stress, the injuries, the sicknesses. The speedup. The surveillance.
Years of being White House Press secretary have taught Jay Carney well.
5
No mention of health insurance for these magnificently remunerated workers. Hmmmm.
1
I heard Nina Turner on MSNBC this morning. She said Bernie is not opposed to corporations because Ben Cohen might become his "Secretary of Ice Cream." She talked a lot about Buttigieg but she can't pronounce his name? Is she for real?
Except pay a fair share of taxes.
1
At one time, Jeff Bezos was worth $166 billion; now he's down to a mere $120 billion or so. Hard times.
Amazon has, they say, half a million employees. If Mr. Bezos shared out $100 billion of his $120 billion; each employee would get $200,000. Hmmm ...
But could Mr. Bezos scrape by with only $20 billion?
I guess that would punish success, though, right? We can't have that! When I gather $120 billion, I want every penny; you others keep your grubby hands off my stack. That's our Old Green Deal, the American Way. [Goes back to perusing yacht catalogs]
1
Pay your fair share in taxes. Stop using lobbyists and big money to stack the deck against the rest of us which starves the system. As soon as possible, we will begin to regulate the heck out of companies like Amazon which listens in on everything we do.
1
So the VP for "Global Corporate Affairs" has been given space in the NYT to write a PR piece about how Amazon is really a company that treats its employees well. Never mind all the reports about things like the relentless pace of work in the warehouses and the points system that allows a computer to decide when to terminate a worker for taking too many sick days.
At least this piece is in the Opinion section. It should really have been labeled as an advertisement.
2
Simple Bernie, simple solutions, simply nonsense....
2
Is Bezos too good to speak for himself?
1
This reads like an amazon propaganda puff piece. I wonder how much they paid for this. While i commend them on raising the minimum wage of their workers to 15$ they failed to mention the terrible working conditions and culture at amazon. The high suicide rate at their factories. Workers being forced to pee in bottles/can't take breaks.
Amazon legally avoids their taxes. You can't blame them for doing so with the typical accounting tricks/hiding money offshore, but we can demand from our politicians that they close these loopholes.
2
Amazon -- I'll wait another day for my package if you'd slow down the inhuman pace demanded of your fulfillment center employees -- An Amazon Prime Customer
2
Jay Carney:
How about the unsafe conditions for workers in NYC?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workers-protest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse
Pay your fair share. You are damaging our road infrastructure, congesting our streets, polluting the air, exploiting workers, and then expecting praise.
4
Time to give Jay Carney a big bonus. What a great job he did getting this piece of publicity for Amazon in the NYT! Like any good publicist he highlighted the obvious and obscured the real story. Time for Amazon to pay their fair share of CORPORATE TAXES. Reflect on their balance sheet what the real cost of doing business is when you fully participate in the collective society by pitching in responsibly.
3
I find this article tone deaf.
Your warehouse workers are forced to endure inhumane pressures to work faster and faster, at the risk of their health. You treat people like machines and punish people for spending an extra two minutes in the bathroom. Pregnant women are pushed from their positions, cautiously, of course, so the don't have grounds to sue.
You use the roads, rails, airports, and police and fire services funded by us, the American taxpayer, but your hire lawyers to avoid paying your share.
You force local, small businesses to bankruptcy, an intentional business model, by selling items at a loss to drive out competition.
You brag about giving workers $15 an hour, not a living wage in many states, while your greedy CEO buys yet another yacht.
And, you crow about doing what lawmakers ask? How much have your lobbyists provided in freebies and campaign contributions to them? By the way, no voter thinks most lawmakers are looking out for our interests first.
You should be ashamed.
265
@SR
I’d be curious to know how Mr Carney’s salary compares to the average Amazon worker.
17
@SR You obviously have never toured a fulfillment center. Feel free to do so - they have free tours - to get an informed opinion based on facts, not rhetoric.
9
@SR
If it were purely "inhumane" how would Amazon fill their openings?
The labor market is a "market".
5
“Amazon has added more jobs than any other”: probably destroyed many times more in retail, distribution, production. A minimum wage is still not a living wage in the high cost locations where the majority of customers live. How many small retailers and their jobs have been destroyed by amazon and their likes?Then there is the exponential damage to the environment, will all this delivering to the doorstep, the explosion in the use of cardboard and other packaging materials.
1
Part of the reason that, for many people, a job at an Amazon warehouse "is by far the best option available in their region" is that Amazon has used its market power to squeeze, crush, and eliminate so many other companies and startups.
This includes tens of thousands of independent retailers. It also includes many consumer product makers of all sizes that are no longer able to invest in new products and new jobs because Amazon has squeezed their margins or simply replaced their products with its own versions in its search results.
2
I believe the Amazon exec who wrote this article is being more than a little disingenuous. The main reason that Amazon wants a $15 legislated minimum wage is to hobble their competitors - not because their altruists. They realize that forcing their competitors to spend more on wages will hurt profits and likely cause some of them to go bankrupt. It's a very clever strategy. They sound high-minded and virtuous while pursuing a ruthless strategy to put their competitors out of business.
1
Amazon is criticized for reportedly using unrelated merchants' listings on its website to create its own competitively priced offerings. What's wrong with that? As for reducing its tax burden, virtually every business in the world does that to improve shareholder returns. The answer isn't to blame Amazon. The answer is to change the tax laws. But as much as Trump dislikes Amazon, he's not going to do that because his major political donors are also using the current tax laws to reduce their US tax obligations. And that wasn't any different under Clinton and Obama.
Obviously people support Amazon. It would not be a success if people didn't. The numbers of people employed generates both payroll tax and sales tax revenue which supports our economy even if Amazon has been given tax abatements.
This would be easier to believe if Amazon paid its fair share in taxes.
2
Amazon does pay it’s fair share according to the tax laws. It is disingenuous to imply they are scofflaws.
What they are doing is no different than deducting mortgage interest. It is an unnecessary deduction that inflates housing prices and punishes those whose rent. There is absolutely no justification for doing this and needs to be changed, but taking it is not being a scofflaw.
I'm one of those holdouts who generally doesn't shop online. And on the very rare occasions that I do, it's not at Amazon. Multi-billionaires don't need my money.
1
Amazon destroyed bookstores and with it, what bookstores sold: our essential bridge to all kinds of richness, knowledge, magic and imagination.
4
Mr. Carney writes: "we can train Americans for the high-paying jobs of tomorrow."
There are people almost old enough to qualify for Medicare who have heard that line all their lives and are still waiting for those high paying jobs.
Let's focus on improving the lot of the actual jobs people have, rather than the fantasy future high paying jobs that - let's face it - less than 10% of the population will ever obtain.
3
While what Amazon did, in response to Bernie Sanders' suggestion, was admirable, Amazon could, and should, go just a tad further by raising the minimum wage to $18 per hour immediately, and unequivocally backing Mr. Sanders call for Medicare for All (Universal Health Coverage), funded through corporate taxation and employee payroll tax increase.
Amazon should endorse Bernie Sanders as well, and in a full page mainstream media presentation, unequivocally call upon the federal government to match its (Amazons) $18 per hour minimum wage, lifting 10's of millions of Americans out of poverty.
Very quickly thereafter it would become patently obvious which corporations have an interest in sharing the wealth they accumulated from the workers, if they do likewise.
The time has come for corporate America and the wealthiest Americans to give back to the workers a fair share of the riches the workers have selflessly bestowed on them.
This is how America returns to its position of leadership of the world.
Lifting millions out of poverty will boost not only our economy still further, but will cause other nations to emulate our methods, dramatically improving worldwide economic conditions.
Corporations worldwide can become genuine forces for good instead of the human spirit / planet wrecking entities they currently are.
3
Is Amazon really a job creator? How many jobs did it destroy by driving local retailers out of business? It would be interesting to see a comparison study. And local businesses paid taxes.
9
@EdBx
Yes, and no discussion of the local tax concessions they demand when they open a warehouse in Po-Dunk, Anywhere, USA. And, did you know that the big Amazon HQ Competition was because Elon Musk had received some giant tax break from the government, and Jeff was jealous?
Yes, look it up. Bezos doesn't give one iota about anything but his pocketbook.
You might also like to know that of the Fortune 500 companies, Amazon has the second highest employee turnover, so I guess they're all so very happy working there!
2
If you believe that $15 is the real minimum, but government only sets it at $7.25, imagine how your healthcare will be once politicians are in control of that industry.
Ha, ha! Things work so well with health care in control of Big Pharma and the health conglomerates! Not!
Your comment is illogical and has it exactly backwards. If it weren't for the federal minimum wage, workers would be in even worse shape than they are. If Congress passed a $15/hour minimum and the president signed it, workers would receive it.
Your attack on the government is misplaced.
If it weren't for Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare, we'd have an even bigger health crisis on our hands.
If it weren't for Social Security, most of our elderly would live poverty, as they used to.
If it weren’t for the food stamp program, we'd have a major malnutrition and hunger problem across the nation, far worse than we have now.
Government programs, especially social and health programs, work well. We need to expand them, not attack them with bogus arguments!
5
@David
At least for the tens of millions of your fellow citizens who are uninsured, it'll be a lot better.
3
He makes a good point about the federal minimum wage at $7.25, introduced in 2009. Congress can’t make any progress on that front??? And we think we will have universal health care???
1
I think it's awesome that you're paying your people more. However, your give is not in line with Amazon's profound level of disruption. Disruption is Amazon's true contribution. You've cleverly partnered with other industries, learned from them and then reinvented the services they provide. Amazon does this brilliantly. The cost of your disruption has been a significant loss of jobs and market segments. So let's be honest. When we do the math, what have you given and what has it cost the United States of America. Start paying taxes. Drastically improve work conditions in your distribution centers. Give more back to your community.
10
A hidden benefit from Amazon. It saves gas and traffic on local streets! A multitude of times I've gone out to local brick and mortar stores trying to find a certain item, insulated slippers most recently. I've been known to spend 3 - 4 hours driving from store to store not being able to find items or find them out of stock or not the right size. At Amazon, I've typically found more and more innovative items than available locally, but I know they are in stock and can tell when they will be delivered.
Very little of what I buy is actually made by Amazon, so they provide a marketplace for people who can't get market penetration by any other means.
Amazon is way too big. An owner whose net worth is greater than many small countries represents economic power way beyond what is acceptable. So lets find some competition or break them into regional independent companies like was done to Bell Telephone in 1982. The model, however, has advantages for jobs and for climate change.
4
Nicely cherry-picked stats... Amazon creates lots of low-paying jobs.
Not mentioned are the taxes they don't have to pay, the number of local businesses they have put into bankruptcy, the truck-driver's they are desperately trying to put out of work through self-driving trucks, the number of product ideas they have stolen from their merchants, etc.
Amazon is pushing as hard as they can to become a vertically integrated company - controlling all means of production and sales - of everything. The sooner they are broken apart (just like the oil, phone, and other trusts) the better off the economy as a whole will be.
8
The worst part of this sham of providing so many jobs is that the VAST majority of them are very strictly controlled to be part time while many, many of the workers want full time. I know this first hand.
7
Nice Try for a press secretary. Not good enough.
Rather trite in the sense of deep discussion of the economic system in US. Employers and capitalism are a deeply authoritative system, controlling the life, income, behavior and habits of employees -- often 8 hours a day or 1/3rd of their lives. In brief, employers make all the decisions as to what that person does during those eight hours with very little input from the workers as well as to what they are paid, what they get for vacation, health insurance, etc. Massive control of the workers life. The Board of Directors, about 12 to 15 people decides everything involving the workers life for that 8 hours a day. They get well paid as do the share holders. The worker is at the bottom. No democracy. This huge part of the workers life in a country that supposedly was founded on "freedom and democracy."
It is a system that needs to go like earlier economic systems; it is in fact failing. There is not a shred of evidence that capitalism is any final, perfect, ultimate glorious system of economic system. It is an undemocratic, and horrid authoritarian system based on domination and control.
"I think it makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy and domination in every aspect of life and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate and should be dismantled to increase the scope of human freedom." Noam Chomsky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P97r9Ci5Kg
5
This is all really great. Now, stop treating your workers like machines and help them unionize. Also, stop avoiding taxes.
8
Yeah, Unionize. So in 15 years, we can read about some Union head embezzling $5 billion.
And this lovely behemoth pays how much in federal and state and local taxes????
7
Corportate blather. Amazon raised the minimium wage and then significantly reduced the numbers of hours available to workers all across the country. Amazon paid $0 in federal taxes last year. How much did you pay?
7
It's bad enough that Amazon pays zilch in federal taxes, that it has local and state tax abatements across the country, that it has insulated itself from antitrust scrutiny or even liability when its overworked drivers crash and killed random citizens, but does the paper of record have to devote the precious space on its pages to this corporate propaganda?
5
@Dan I think this illuminates the failure of the Obama/Clinton alliance with technology better than any other type of article or opinion piece. If this dosen't show you how the government to lobbyist pipeline makes sinners of us all, I don't know what will. The author still believes in the 1950's ideal of american industry being the driver of prosperity, without accounting for the weakening of labor protections that Clinton/Blair/Obama "liberalism" has gotten us. This delusion is at the heart of the current primary and the reason that "throw the bums out" has led to the Trump presidency.
On the whole i agree, this should have been partnered with a companion piece demonstrating the other viewpoint, i.e. consolidation has led to oligarchical power.
3
Statistics show that Amazon has the second highest job turnover rate among Fortune 500 companies--an employee lasts something like 1.5 years.
You guys must really love it there!
5
Yes, Mr. Carney, Amazon did ONE good thing that it did not absolutely have to do.
I could say something churlish about rich folks getting pats on the back for the simplest of efforts that is no sacrifice, in fact, that might benefit them; how they then humble-brag about it and market off it, and how lower-class folks have to get everything right and that is just to get into the game, not even to start to break even.
I could say all that, as a class warrior, but I won't.
I'll just congratulate Mr. Carney's company and look forward to the Power Point presentation at the next interational economic forum. Do you think they'll be serving D.P. with the canape's in the reception area???
No comment on paying zero taxes?
2
If you would like to be Unsubscribed from Amazon.com's corporate newsletter, click here.
4
I love getting lectured by a paid operative who used to lecture the opposite of these points because he was paid by someone else at the time.
3
We appreciate all that you've done. Now you need to pay your fair share of taxes. That is blatantly unfair to the rest of us.
392
@Deb A
What is their fair share of taxes? How do the taxes they pay compare with Google Microsoft Apple and Facebook? I suggest you complain to our President and his Republican colleagues. Let us know the answer they give you!
8
@Deb A It's the laws that have to change. Unfortunately, Amazon and the other large companies that pay no taxes are not so illegally. That's the real shame here. It's Congress's fault. THE LAWS MUST CHANGE.
29
@Deb A I agree...what I don't hear often enough but it needs to be stated, companies and high net worth individuals use more of the transportation infrastructure of this country than say someone making minimum wage and using buses or walk to work and probably never stepped into an airport, unless they are part of the maintenance crew.
Companies and high net worth individuals have the legal system in this country that protects their IP and assets.
They also don't pay for and educated workforce that helps them make money.
There are many reasons why companies and wealthy people should pay more taxes and we should talk about it more in specific terms. We are not just saying tax them because they have money but because they do use/benefit more from the infrastructure of this country.
22
How many of your jobs are contracted out ?
4
Jay Carnay is just another example of Washington's revolving door.
Favorable treatment of big business interests while in government can get you 7 figure jobs in symbolic positions at those big businesses after you leave.
You can then shill for those companies in high profile op-eds by leveraging your former status in government.
Sickening!
6
I hope when Bernie is President this legalized bribery revolving door that exists between corporations and political actors in Washington will end and be made illegal. The press secretary of a former President shilling for a company exploiting the planet and its humans is Exhibit A for systemic corruption. And this is why all great nations eventually crumble.
4
Bernie is the best choice for president this year. Period. He is right to praise any company for upping the minimum wage even if he criticizes its other practices.
189
@John Jabo
Bernie is the worst choice for president. Period. No matter the value of what he says, his temperament and us/them thinking would make for a terrible president. He inspires no one who doesn't idealize him. And he is not a progressive - his ideas are mid-20th century.
12
@Barbara more like 1917 - the year of the Bolshevik Revolution.
1
@Betti - LOL You guys are going to be so disappointed if you expect do-nothing Bernie to pull off a Bolshevik Revolution. Does he mean well? Sure. Has he accomplished very little during his time in Congress? Also yes.
1
Amazon is amazing for a lot of things but paying no taxes last year is mind-boggling. What about it, Mr. Carney?
5
This document helps reveal the pretense of Clinton and Obama era economic policies and the failure of the modern democratic party.
3
And how much income tax did Amazon pay last year?
2
@Chris W.
Amazon paid over 1 billion dollars in state taxes for 2018. It's likely to be even higher for 2019.
Amazon didn't pay any federal income tax, but that's not the same as paying no tax at all. Many states in the US benefited from Amazon paying hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes. Washington State alone collected over 250 million dollars in tax from Amazon.
1
@Joel : I believe you are talking about the taxes paid by consumers on individual sales. A vast number of those are sales by third party mom&pop businesses that sell on Amazon. These are the same taxes you and I pay when we go into a local shop. Good on the states for forcing Amazon to finally start paying those taxes.
However Federal Taxes are something everyone (individually) pays but Amazon did not. This is the 'corporate socialism' that Bernie talks about.
Corporations should pay a premium to do business in the US since they take full advantage of the infrastructure (paid for by federal taxes as well as local) that rivals anywhere else in the world. That is one reason companies like Amazon are not based in Myanmar or Vietnam.
If you want to do business in the US then you should pay your fair share.
2
Jay Carney was Obama's press secretary. Like many others in that administration that was going to "bring change to Washington", he cashed in, in the traditional way, and is now doing damage control for the overlord class, attempting to put a shiny gloss on Amazon's shocking treatment of workers.
Remember, for every one of him, magnanamously conceding the right of the voting public's representatives to "scrutinize" the company somewhat, Amazon has a thousand lobbyists in DC arguing directly to lawmakers that the little scrutiny they do get is too much.
Never forget Amazon is the company where fulfillment workers have to step over or around dead bodies of co-workers, and urinate in jars because they don't get enough time for bathroom breaks.
2
Urinate in jars and step over dead bodies. Oh, The Hyperbole. Oh, The Humanity!
1
TAXES, TAXES, TAXES! That is why the general public are so aggravated by Amazon. Not its minimum payable wages.
The hubris that drips off the page in this article shows how far big business still has to go in recognising this.
4
@Nero
Maybe if the general public were more educated on tax law their complaints would be listened to. As it stands they're complaining about things that aren't even true. Amazon does pay taxes, and they pay all the taxes they're legally required to. So what are you even complaining about? That they're not paying enough? According to who?
2
Goodness, there are so many comments here about Amazon not paying any taxes, or their "fair share" of taxes.
As far as I know, Amazon has never been charged, accused, or convicted of violating income tax laws. Of course they have competent tax accountants who know and take the deductions that the law allows.
The problem lies with the tax laws. The solution is changing the tax laws, not hoping that Amazon will take pity on the IRS and send in a bonus.
5
As another arrow in Sanders quiver of helping the Fight for $15, Bernie wrote punitive legislature targeting some of America’s largest corporations. Sen. Sanders introduced a bill that would tax companies like Amazon and Walmart for the amount of money their employees receive in federal benefits.
Titled the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (or the “Stop BEZOS” Act), the legislation is aimed at taxing companies with employees who earn low wages and receive federal benefits like food stamps, public housing and Medicaid. (It was just the push Amazon needed)
Along with his media bully pulpit, speechifying on the Senate floor, walking the picket lines with strikers and going into the boardrooms of the largest Corp. employers of the US, mobilizing his million wo/man Revolution, Sanders helped millions of American workers WIN an avg. doubling of their wages.
Not a "promise", not a "plan", not a tax scheme in April, but hard cash in the workers pockets NOW~!
And Amazon and Walmart workers (and millions more) are now a faction of Sanders huge donor base.
This didn't happen in our Congress or Whitehouse. This was boots on the ground; going around the stalemate of our Gov.
Walking the Talk. Actually getting it done with and in this case without congress (again).
America could really use a President that worked FOR We the People. Not for the corp., connected, .001% and their lobbyists.
NotMeUs
4
Watch out! Amazon is going to take over the generosity market too.
1
Amazon is a corrupt and predatory institution, as documented extensively here in the Times, that in recent years has moved to undermine and exploit the writers who fill its Kindle store and crush the small businesses in its orbit through unethical and unconscionable means. I support politicians who want to break up Amazon and want to put a stop to this perversion of our economy. Having a successful business is fine, but trying to lay siege to every successful business is something Jay Carney should be embarrassed about and much more contrite than he is here. This is the same "My Way or the Highway" approach that caused Amazon to shutter their HQ2 plans in Long Island City (though they came back anyway without the absurd handouts).
6
@Jason Nothing in your screed indicates why you think Amazon is corrupt other than allegedly exploiting writers who would be selling fewer books but for Amazon. Traditional retailers have failed to address Amazon's advantages which, curiously, is not about price but about availability of and information about products. Retailers failed to address Amazon's weakness which is about service and ironically responded by firing, reducing wages, and limiting benefits to salespeople who knew what they were selling and could be an attraction against Amazon's mail order operation.
While I enjoy the outrage and counter arguments in the comments, I wonder if any of the writers would advocate for Amazon to pay less.
1
So you know $15 isn't a lot and is the minimum workers should be paid. Then why don't you pay them more? Certainly Amazon has the money to do the right thing.
Beholden to stock holders, best for business, etc.... whatever reasons you may have, there's no reason to go around touting what good guys you are if you don't actually do what you know is right.
155
@Barbara $15 for unskilled entry level employees is good money … and why should a company pay more for people who lack the skills to earn a better salary?
2
@Rev Bates Because it is the right thing to do. Some people think entry level pay should be more than 15.
7
Many people rely on the affordable products that Amazon delivers. Including busy working class parents. It’s not necessarily “the right thing” to make them pay more just to provide someone with a completely arbitrary minimum wage.
3
Bernie was much more than a "frequent critic" of Amazon. He and Ro Khanna introduced a bill into Congress to tax Amazon and other big companies whose workers collect public assistance, a tax equal to the amount of public assistance. The name of the bill was the Stop Bezos Act (Stop Bad Employers By Zeroing Out Subsidies Act). lt brought a lot of attention to the issue of raising the minimum wage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttT5zXq3DgI
5
I wholeheartedly agree that the taxpayer should not be carrying the costs of individual life choices, neither should employers. It is beyond absurd to think that my employer is suddenly on the hook for the costs i created, particularly since they have no voice in those decisions.
@From Where I Sit This bill was about people who make such a small wage that they are still eligible for public assistance even though they are working. It has nothing to do with individual life choices.
2
One word conspicuous by its absence from former White House Press Secretary and current Vice President for Global Corporate Affairs at Amazon:
Tax.
4
What the article doesn’t mention is that Amazon reportedly stripped away from these same workers any stocks they had been previously granted. So it was not really a net win for the workers, was it? Of course, Mr. Carney has likely been compensated more than adequately compensated .... apparently, it pays to be corporate shill par excellence.
5
Bernie and his Bros must accept the fact that there are virtuous oligarchs out there like Jeff Bezos...and Mike Bloomberg for example.
1
@Merlin "virtuous oligarchs"
3
BK ... exactly. I doubt the commenter gets your sense of irony, though.
4
Did you say Amazon provides Health Care?
2
I wonder if Jay Carney speaks the real truth about what goes on at Amazon with the salaries and benefits of the real workers in the distribution centers. The NYT's should speak to them and get the other side of the coin. Amazon is a monster company. It is what is wrong with America. It denies so many businesses of existence in the market place. It is so convenient that it has taken over every aspect of our lives. It has destroyed the brick and mortar store in so many ways.
5
If this is an attempt to beg voters not to choose a candidate who will better regulate Amazon...you can forget it. Just because Amazon was pressured into doing the right thing once doesn't mean they are committed to always doing all the right things of theirbown volition.
Wow - a lot of Amazon apologists here.
A couple of things stand out for me when I look at Amazon: Somehow, Jeff Bezos still managed to become $13 billion richer in one day (when Amazon's stock price jumped recently after quarterly reports). Please don't try to explain that away with talk of how Amazon re-invests its profits in the company/its employees/etc. That is just plain wrong.
Secondly, as I google around, it appears that Amazon full-time employees must pay up to $400 to $500 (plus) monthly for their health care premiums (for families with children). While Amazon matches 401(k) donations (up to 4 %), there is (silly me!) no such thing as an Amazon defined benefit pension plan. And as Carney admits $15/hour is not really that much - certainly not enough for a family wage. (I doubt those at the $15/hour level have any $$ left to contribute to their 401ks.)
Can anyone say "let's unionize!" ???
Finally, while yes, of course, Amazon avails itself of tax loopholes/deductions just like any other normal American (corporation) does - and therefore ends up paying zilch in federal corporate taxes - don't for a second imagine that Amazon does not also lobby for every kind of loophole imaginable.
We have all drunk the Kool-aid if we think that the Amazon model is the best we can do.
9
@Marie S There are no more defined benefit pension plans. Congress killed them years ago and even the old line industrial companies have abandoned them as Congress piled liabilities upon liabilities on the plan sponsors and made the risks and costs of offering the plans prohibitive.
2
Jay Carney, perhaps advisors to Amazon with your political and media savvy can help Amazon lead a campaign to support a federal bill for the $15/hr min wage.
3
That's great. Now how about paying share of taxes that the local businesses that were put out of businesses by Amazon. Without small and medium size businesses to pay fair share of State taxes for local infrastructure, it is left to be taken out of of our minimum wage. Thanks. Meanwhile the local businesses try to justify the sales tax they are obliged to tack on to each bag of dog food, car part, or book. Again, thanks ever so much.
4
I see the "Amazonification" of commerce as analogous to globalization, but worse. Instead of lifting up impoverished nations, we are further enriching billionaires, who can then rig our elections to further exploit our infrastructure without paying any taxes.
3
Do only your senior executives get to go the bathroom as needed? Or do they carry work into the stall with them, too? The very fact that you felt the need to write this shows that YOU KNOW you are terrible to most of your employees, the communities you are a part of and retail workers around the country. Until you, as an organization, acknowledge that you employ HUMAN BEINGS in the retail service of other HUMAN BEINGS and that your incomprehensibly behemoth size gives you mammoth sway over the existence of ALL HUMAN BEINGS there really isn't much to talk about.
3
It’s disturbing to see where so many Obama people ended up- serving the powerful.
2
Still not shopping at Amazon.
3
From a reward perspective, there must be an economic advantage to work. Associated activities to work, such as administration of work, mustn’t reward more than actual work.
But we have offshored so much of our productive work to regimes whose governance model appears to have evolved from observing the insect world. Authoritarians needn’t concern themselves with annoying public details, such as the rule of law, public safety or general welfare. See exhibit: coronavirus.
There is far too much free-riding in free trade. Our government, which is fundamentally a service organization (informational not productive work), has been so captured by the false economics of the trading community, it is incapable for providing for the general welfare or needs of the people.
Amazon and the false premise behind offshoring must be stopped dead.
3
Well, "momma didn't make no fool" as you managed to get some very good exposure here! But actually, one could argue you deserve it having been a focus of serious criticism, but any good marketing man would put a positive spin on it. So of course, waving your flag was very impressive showing real positives about the company and giving speech where it wasn't being heard. That in itself always dispels mysteries and fears.
But more to the point; Amazon was a brilliant idea that has assumed the twenty first century model of Sears & Roebucks that was the first mail order and shipping conglomerate in America. As railroads sprang up across America, towns, villages, and farms all grew along it depending on the genius of the transportation system to enlarge markets and help consumers. Now our nation is a Transportation miracle from ground to air. So first, Amazon has to recognize the benefit and help further improvements, not just use those routes. Lobbying, taxes, will all help both of us. It's a symbiotic goal to benefit all in the line from business to consumers. Happiness is contagious.
But there is the big problem of driving businesses out of business, so it is of paramount importance that the King help the subjects. Mutual partnership programs and thinking can make a happy integrated economy. Mutual business shipping and help with small business cooperative sales like your "Marketplace" should be seriously expanded. You know how the natives get restless. I do.
2
Like all beneficent dictators, Bezos wants public praise for doing the right thing. But the biggest issue I constantly hear and read about Amazon is not about wages or benefits, but about horrible unsafe working conditions. Amazon has so much money that paying a living wage will hardly dent their profits, but the high speed , unsafe working practices are part of the basic business model and until Amazon unionizes, they will continue.
14
This is a baldface propaganda piece. It is a subtle attempt to undermine Senator Sanders. This contributor is trying to say all is forgiven because wages were raised to a barely poor level ignoring other harmful practices.
Ralph Nader retorted when GM executives at a Congressional hearing tried to put out all the "good things" they did and were allowed a slip up on shoddily made Corvair. The GM bosses were addressing Nader's critique in his book, "Unsafe At Any Speed". Without batting an eyelash Nader said,
"Do you forgive a thief if they rob only 5% of the time?"
6
Amazon only reacted to shaming by Sanders. Their warehouse conditions for workers remain a hellscape, poorly ventilated, insanely pressured, poorly recompensed, risking injuries. Don’t forget they won their legal battle to not pay workers for the time they spend waiting to go through security checkpoints.
Now they game the tax system, both here and abroad. The worlds most profitable company not only pays no Federal taxes, they get a tax refund. This isn’t a victimless crime: ordinary Americans have to make up the shortfall or are on the generational hook for interest on the national debt.
If Sanders continues to perform well in the primaries, expect more of these self-serving propaganda pieces by corporations headed by multi-billionaires alarmed at the prospect of having to pay their workers a living wage and faced with the threat of a pivot towards government for the struggling majority not the uncaring and obscenely rich minority.
11
Have you ever worked at Amazon? Not from your offices on high, but down on the floor moving and delivering packages at breakneck speed? People who sit in offices rarely experience what its like to be one of the cogs in the wheel. How about all of you work on the floor for three months, earning that $15 you're gloating about, and then write an article about how wonderful Amazon is to its employees? Or maybe revisit one of those towns you moved into and bled dry and then closed up shop. Give me a break. Amazon is hardly this magnanimous company that cares that you want to present.
7
Amazon creates excessive environmental waste and pollution. Cancel your Prime membership today. Buy your goods locally and you will reduce environmental waste/pollution and you will be supporting your local community.
6
I often feel guilt about my use of super convenient Amazon but I don’t need home delivery. The PO Box works just fine. Now maybe I need to feel guilt about the Post Office employee’s? Dunno. Always guilt for something.
1
I have no problem with Amazon. I have been a customer since 2000 when I needed a video of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to give as a Christmas gift and no one else had it.
I find that to still be the case, that Amazon has stuff I want which no one else carries.
Hey, if you don't like Amazon don't shop there, just keep doing what you're doing, going from store to store, mall to mall looking for stuff that's a click away at a good price and no expenditures for gas or carfare.
6
You fail to mention that Amazon would face unionization had it not raised the minimum wage. Amazon has done more to displace American workers than any company in American History. Amazon’s goal is to replace workers through automation and those that are so “fortunate” to work for Bezos, do so along side robots that will eventually replace them. You also fail to mention employee turnover at Amazon. How high is it relative to that of other companies? It’s also disingenuous to put it on Warren and Sanders to raise the federal minimum wage when the Senate is controlled by the anti-labor party that promotes the philosophy of an employee’s “right to work.” Please don’t insult the intelligence of many Times readers. You can’t fool all of us all of the time. Sadly, you worked for Democratic President and now you’re bragging about Amazon’s altruism for labor and it’s benevolent concern for America. Amazon had a choice to raise the minimum wage or face unionization in states where there exists no fictitious “right to work.”
8
He praised them for raising their minimum wage to $15 an hour.
That's it.
Jay Carney makes it sound as if Bernie went on and on about how great Amazon was.
What about those taxes, Amazon?
Headlines are misleading.
8
First, how much did Amazon pay in taxes last year? In 2018 you paid ZERO. And not only that, you got a $129 million dollar REBATE! Sorry if I'm not feeling very sympathetic to your "plight".
As to "We're doing everything we're being asked to do", let me point out to you that doing the right thing only gets you credit when it was your idea to do it, not when you're asked (or really shamed if we want to be truthful). So again, you get no sympathy from me.
And then there's this:
"We know $15 is not a lot. In fact, we believe $15 should be the minimum anyone in the United States is paid for an hour of labor,"
Well if you know this, why don't you do something about it? Who's stopping you? Oh yeah, it's because the desire to "do the right thing" pales in comparison to your drive to wring out the most profit you can, regardless of the cost on society.
You and your founder Mr. Bezos, deserve every bit of contempt you receive. But of course you're not alone. All of Corporate America shares in the blame for how the economy doesn't work for the majority of Americans. Ironically, if you corporate vultures took a bigger view beyond your bottom line you'd see that when the consumers share in the wealth they help to create, they tend to spend it and that increases your profits. What a novel concept, huh? So "novel" Henry Ford based his decision to pay his workers more than anyone else so they could afford to buy the cars he sold.
Again, no sympathy here.
5
I wish Jay had addressed Amazon's taxes. Or, lack of taxes to the US.
2
Both parties suffer from a version of 1950's Americancitis, where every family was middle class, and being a working stiff was the path to prosperity. Progressives think we can simply make people hire unskilled labor for above-market rates and empower the unions and all will be taken care of. Republicans want the small government of the 50's where manufacturing comes back. They are both wrong. 9 out 10 jobs are being displaced because of technology not China. Increasing cost of low skilled jobs will simply drive the Amazons of the world to automate faster. Amazon bought Kiva (Robotics) and has replaced ~600K low skilled jobs with Robots. Trump may have one thing "right". With low US birthrate (now 1.77 births per couple), the low skilled jobs may be replaced with tech while high skilled employees drive value. Far better to plot out an economy that reflects where value is earned
4
Agreed! Amazon is not the problem. Predatory Capitalism, supercharged by the ability of plutocrats and corporations to publicly and legally purchase elected officials, is the problem. We will never able to reverse our course unless our Congress Critters become willing to bite the hand that owns them and overturn Citizens United.
4
Completely ignores the fact that Amazon is causing 30% of all stores and malls to close which destroy many jobs and, well, tough luck, if you don’t live near a distribution center to get one of these good $15/h job.
Also, Amazon pays ZERO in taxes so the country gets absolutely nothing back from this
4
That's a good start and should be commended. I would encourage Amazon to pressure it's supply chain partners and peer group to do likewise..........
When it comes to Amazon, I fail to walk the walk while I talk the talk against giant enterprises. Personally, I really like Amazon. In my many, many orders it has never failed me. And its Alexa sits proudly on my desk awaiting my next question. But...I also believe too many of our retail brick and mortar entities have been sacrificed because of Amazon’s far reaching tentacles. And simply put it is not fair to see small businesses in my community and others throughout this nation go belly-up because of Bezos’ global phenomenon. Now when I buy books I frequent our delightful small, cozy, and personal neighborhood Copperfield’s. Clothes and shoes? You got it. I prefer to try them on and place my money into the hands of our local retailers. Finally, a minimum wage of $15 may be okay in some parts of the country but does diddly-squat in states like mine. Bezos, a billionaire, certainly can do better than that. Don’t you think?
82
@Kathy Lollock
I like Amazon as well but lately I've noticed they aren't as competitive on prices as they once were. I recently found an item on Amazon and then did a web search for the same item and ended up buying it for 10% less from the independent web site. You could argue they provide convenience in being able to buy multiple items you need all at once but if you care about the environment then it's frustrating that they often break these orders up into multiple shipments. My thinking goes that if I'm going to be damaging the environment with multiple shipments then I might as well save some money doing it and buy from the independent web retailers that likely need the revenue much more than Amazon does.
5
@Kathy Lollock
"And simply put it is not fair to see small businesses in my community and others throughout this nation go belly-up because of Bezos’ global phenomenon"
Those businesses did not innovate, did not grow, did not change, and now you are demanding that Bezos is somehow bad for not being as slothful as those businesses.
You should also look at each of those businesses that failed/closed. Look at what "mom & pop" took out as their owners share, how much they demanded tax refunds and out-right not paying taxes, income and otherwise. Look at the disparities between the owners incomes and their workers.
If you actually do that you will see those owners, as is their right, took the Lions share of profits/revenues and let their employees struggle.
Yet you want Bezos to stop innovating and growing to allow those same people, who did exactly what you accuse Bezos of doing, should behave differently.
That is very sad on your part
2
@mike
I buy locally because I want the money to stay in the local economy. I get my books from the local bookstore, my clothes from local clothing stores, my gadgets at local hardware and other stores.
I do not patronize Amazon. They treat their workers very badly and I won't go along with that.
5
$15 an hour for Amazon was all about optics. It is only a temporary measure until they ultimately replace those minimum wage workers with automated warehouses and fulfillment centers. Unfortunately, we are at a time where increasing the minimum wage will do nothing but increase companies' propensity to automate their workforce (http://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2018/05-May-2018/Minimum-wage-increases-lead-to-faster-job-automation), and it doesn't do anything to help those who ultimately get displaced.
Amazon is gutting the American workforce and shutting down all of our main street stores and small businesses across the country, and they will stop at nothing until they own all of the wealth and capital in this country. Bezos has essentially won the game of capitalism and our politicians are completely asleep at the wheel.
This is why Trump got elected by middle America.
2
@Scott: This sounds similar to the complaints about Wal-Mart a couple of decades before. There was some bait and switch there, also. Remember all the Made in USA hype at Wal-Mart?
Retail has always evolved in the U.S. When I was a kid we had Murphy's and Woolworth. There were many regional department stores. E.J. Korvettes was amazing. Plus there was Sears and Wards. All died their own deaths. The same things have happened with food retailers, and most small meat and produce stores are now gone, as well as the early chains like A&P.
It is just constant competition. Big money eats up little money, as big money can move into new suburbs while little money can't. Amazon succeeds because they are just more efficient. Retail is just one place where efficiency plus vast offerings at competitive prices will win.
If we are going to go after predatory corporations, go after an HCA, who look like extortionists to me. $43 billion in profit last year. And it's not because they do it with better service or lower costs. They charge as much as they can, have made it an art. We keep harping on single payer and screaming at insurance companies, and meanwhile let the HCA's of the country bleed us dry.
No, no you have not. Not by a long shot. Your employee injury rate is the highest next to farm workers and other similar jobs. Your pay of fulfillment workers is still through temp agencies allowing you to take a step back from responsibiity for your treatment and compensation of them and forget benefits. You still have mandatory overtime for months at a time. You have created a whole class of worker who can never ever pull themselves out of what for all intensive purposes is indentured servitude. Then you do the same thing for any other industry that becomes close to you for instance UPS, first canabalizing those workers then coming up with your own fleet of carriers who working to your specifications have become a menace to be driving amongst.
So No, Amazon. You have not.
4
Agree, hourly wage of $15 is a good thing.
Now if we could just get Amazon to pay their fair share of taxes.
Federal income taxes for 2019: $162 million on $13.3 billion of U.S. pre-tax income, an effective tax rate of 1.2%.
In 2017 and 2018, the Seattle-based company reported a combined $266 million in current tax refunds those years.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-touts-2019-federal-taxes-but-the-picture-is-complicated/
1
There is an overriding irony at play here. Many of the same former single proprietors of Main St. businesses displaced by Amazon, now sell their product through Amazon.
But really Amazon, pay your employees what they're worth & start paying taxes like everyone else.You are the top of the retail food chain.
3
They’re only going to need to pay this minimum wage for a few more years anyway. Just wait until the robots can pick the orders and the trucks can drive themselves.
1
When Mr. Carney is spending his days at one of the fulfillment centers carrying heavy products and doing repetitive tasks for $15 per hour, then he can tell us how well Amazon treats its employees
4
"As the employer that has added more jobs to the American economy over the last decade than any other, we at Amazon have a unique perspective."
Speaking for the company that has done more than any other to destroy centuries of bricks and mortar retail (and the livelihoods of the hard working men and women those businesses supported) Mr. Carney does indeed have a unique perspective.
"We are not a social media company, a news aggregator or a forum for political advocacy (or disinformation)."
No, not exactly. But Amazon IS one of the most powerful tech driven surveillance companies in the world with deep ties to law enforcement. As Wikipedia confirms, Amazon Rekognition has been sold and used by a number of United States government agencies, including ICE and Orlando, Florida police, as well as private entities. Amazon's surveillance doorbell, Ring, is nothing less than a Trojan horse for feeding the company's insatiable hunger for data about all of us. Anyone who doubts the extreme risks to privacy from private sector surveillance companies like Amazon needs to read this paper's lead editorial from just two days ago ("The Government Uses ‘Near Perfect Surveillance’ Data on Americans"):
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/opinion/dhs-cell-phone-tracking.html
2
Unions and laws protect the working class against ruthless exploitation by our capitalist masters. Not the benevolence whims of corporate tyrants.
3
“As the employer that has added more jobs to the American economy over the last decade than any other...” I almost fell out of my seat when I read that. How many mom & pop stores on Main St. and how many department stores employing hundreds of workers per location have shut their doors in the last two decades because they could not compete with Amazon?
2
Ok, Amazon. Very nice of you to be a little bit ahead of the $15/hour minimum wage curve.
Now, how do you feel about union organizing, so that those workers might have some say as to those warehouse working conditions that grind them down?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
6
Amazon is not the evil empire. They made this hourly wage step unilaterally. They cannot fix the problem of income inequality. That is a function of government. There is no corporate bogeyman. Just corrupt politicians and law they legislate and adjudicate like "Citizens United." A few bad apples really did spoil the bunch in the last 40 years in America.
77
@USNA73 That's a little simplistic. When companies like Amazon spend millions of dollars influencing those same politicians to get the outcomes they want, its a stretch to say that Amazon is not involved in the corruption.
29
@USNA73
I agree that government needs to step in to do something about inequality. I would include enacting labor laws that deal with worker exploitation, and legislation to make companies like Amazon pay more in taxes.
However, the failure of the government to act to protect workers and consumers does not get Amazon and other corporations off the hook for the exploitation of its workforce. Just like they can choose to pay more in wages, they can choose to improve conditions in their warehouses, among other things.
"There is no corporate bogeyman. Just corrupt politicians"
This begs the question of who or what is doing the corrupting.
19
@USNA73 Actually that sounds good, but it is inaccurate. Henry Ford's welfare capitalism, something America has abandoned since Ronald Regan's foolishness of allowing companies to dissolve their defined pension plans, was the forerunner of any political action. Henry's wife told him if he paid his workers more, they could buy his cars. He did, and they did. Sometimes, but not always, economics can be a self fulfilling prophecy. Besides, Amazon needs to actually pay some reasonable level of income taxes, as they currently pay nothing. Mr. Carney cannot laud their pay increase without noting the lack of fulfilling their civic fiscal obligation on the other.
16
Amazon is developing drones to deliver their products because the roads and bridges are falling apart. Poor people better start paying more taxes.
2
@gene And delivery drones will fill our skies with constant noise pollution. See Slate May 6, 2019 article, "Have you heard the buzz about delivery drones' noise."
We don't hear the drone industry talk about noise pollution, because there is nothing that can be done about it. Drones are loud and irritating and will raise average noise levels 12 times. And delivery drones are even louder than recreational drones.
We have rapidly rising noise pollution from a wide range of sources--loud cars and trucks, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, the hiss of energy efficient furnaces and appliances, solar inverters, generators, warning beepers, amplified speakers and we don't need drones to add to the noise.
Every time I see an image of a drone or drone generated image I think of the noise pollution being generated. I wish others were alarmed as I am about the prospect of ever more drones and noise making devices around us and in the natural world.
2
If Mr. Sanders can pretend to turn on a dime and make a 180 degree on capitalism but I’m afraid the voters will not buy it.
2
@Charlie
Sanders is not against capitalism, he's just against corporate capitalism, the kind of unfettered, winner-takes-all, monopolistic capitalism that is ruining the middle class, in favor of the very rich.
12
Jay, if you’re serious - Amazon Flex needs an overhaul (for those who don’t know, Amazon Flex delivers your Prime Now and Fresh):
- A better way to sign up for shifts than continually tapping the screen. If you’ve never done this, maybe you don’t know how degrading it is. Waiting for shifts to appear, hanging out at the station, rapid tapping the app all day in the hopes you’ll get a shift so you can eat or pay rent. At least guarantee a minimum number of shifts or set up a lottery based on seniority.
- Make safety equipment available like bright vests or branded clothing, so workers aren’t harassed while delivering. Many workers buy their own, which is a big expense when you’re already desperate enough to work this type of gig.
- Make carts available. I understand there are some provisions that make it difficult to prove you have “independent contractors” vs “employees” - maybe this is why Amazon does not provide the basics they need to get the job done? In that case...
- Pay them more. They are already using their own car, their own gas, and they should be compensated enough consistently (not just during surge) that their net is at least the $15/hr minimum (accounting for equipment, car maintenance, depreciation, and gas)
- Make sure workers know their rights and are protected during deliveries (dog attacks, sketchy properties, etc)
- There’s probably more, but my overall point is this segment of Amazon is disgruntled, abused, underpaid, and feels largely ignored.
11
Well, you did the job you get paid for. For a bit wider perspective, Robert Reich recently tweeted the following:
"Amazon paid a 1.2% tax rate on
$13,285,000,000 in profits last year.
Call me a radical, but I think corporations should pay a higher rate than school teachers."
21
Well, if I wasn't paying federal taxes, like Amazon isn't, I could be pretty free with my money as well.
7
Question on health benefits -
Glad that Amazon offers comprehensive health to all employees, but at what cost to the employee?
Access does not equal affordable.
7
While raising its wages to 15 dollars and offering career choice are improvements for Amazon workers, don’t be fooled into thinking Amazon does these things out of altruism or public spirit.
The company has always been notoriously uninterested in philanthropy and supporting the communities where it is. Jeff Bezos just drove the company through a campaign to create a bidding war of tax breaks in its ‘H2Q’ search for instance.
This not a company that does good for its own sake.
The truth is far more likely to be that the wage increase and any additional benefits is driven by the lack of an available labor pool. The massive size of the company, coupled with the rapidity with which Amazon grinds through employees, both corporate and hourly, because of grinding working conditions and the hunger to constantly manage out the “underperforming”, means that in many places where it operates, and in many job functions, the company has exhausted the local labor pool.
In truth these changes are driven by market forces and not virtue.
7
Retail is Amazon's origin story but to say that it is their "core business" is a straight up lie. They make their money from web services - servers, information, etc. Per Geekwire in October 2019 "AWS was responsible for 13 percent of Amazon's overall revenue of $70 billion in the quarter, and it is still growing faster than the company as a whole. Its operating income of $2.26 billion made up roughly 71 percent of Amazon's overall operating profits"
So, how can they afford to support their money-losing, massive carbon footprint "core business" - and pay workers to do physically demanding jobs (1/2 mi jog on your bathroom break, anyone?) $15 an hour? Easy - their multi-million dollar ad campaign has the answer: AWS is how.
3
There are policies and there is culture. Amazon has instituted some positive policies, it’s culture is still atrocious. I know many people that work at Amazon, they were all guilted for using leave. Try being present in your child’s life, try working only 40 hours a week, and see how quickly they shuttle you out. It is a culture of using a worker up, and then hiring the next. Amazon has been a large force in Seattle for 20 years now. They import most of their workers from other States or other countries. They have never bothered trying to partner with local institutions to build a stable organic workforce as other employers have in the past. Why? Because they don’t want a stable workforce, they want people to feel precarious so they burn themselves out, and then leave when they have nothing left to give.
13
I think the $15 minimum wage mutually beneficial publicity stunt between Bernie and Amazon is beautiful. See, he does take contributions from corporations, the healthy kind :)
3
Does Amazon's calculations of jobs created figure in the jobs you have helped destroy in local, independent bookstores? Amazon in one sense provides excellent service, but is at a cost. If something goes wrong with an order or a book, it's very easy to go back to the local store, but with an Amazon order it is confusing what you would do next. I tested the customer service tab on the Amazon page just now and found it a confusing mess. There is no phone number and limited transparency. Some unscrupulous vendors have sold me galley drafts as books, burying what they are doing somewhere during the transaction.
2
@Jonathan M Feldman As a rural resident I rely on internet vendors like Amazon more than most. While Amazon has improved their customer service, they still need to make it easier for customers to complain about false representations made by their affiliates. The increased cost of hiring people to process this data could be offset by reducing the expense of refunds, returns and lost and disgruntled customers.
1
@Jonathan M Feldman The phone number is listed under customer service and is also at the bottom of the page. It's also available at "Dial-a-Human". I've never had a problem reaching customer service and when I did my problem was readily resolved - usually in my favor. It's well known that customers are better served by buying directly from Amazon or its preferred vendors with sound reviews.
2
$15 an hour but still forcing workers to endure draconian, unsafe working conditions - monitored every second.
And the wealthiest man in the world and his company paying 0% taxes? A giant monopoly the forces small businesses to close? How are those contributing to the American economy?
13
There are ways to write tax law so that it works for everyone, but as long as individual taxpayers don't bother to see how corporate taxes actually work, businesses will get the tax code written to their specs and what benefits them most. The fact that these corporations don't pay tax needs to be examined with the idea of how much service they are getting from government. Also, just because they are bigger doesn't mean they should have a bigger tax bill. The golden goose here is the money these companies put back into investment of their business each year which generates jobs, products and services. I am sick over the fact that not one of the Dem candidates has even had the guts to approach this subject like they know what they are talking about. The total tax bill needs to be examined because these companies may in fact, be paying far more productive taxes to state and local economies. Taken into account must be the incentives given by state and local governments such as tax abatement and "fee in lieu of" so that a fair appraisal is done. To simply say they pay nothing is ridiculous. They must enlist surrogates that will put together a program that is good for business, good for their employees, and good for local economies. It may not be easy, but it is necessary to get a tax system balance that everyone knows works. Please Bernie and all the others, address tax issues like you know what you are talking about. They system now is corrupted and does need to be fixed.
4
If you are upset with how much of Amazon’s profits go to taxes then take it up with the responsible party. It’s the government’s failure that allows this.
6
@John
How many times are you going to post the same thing ? Amazon paid no federal tax. That's not right. Their smokescreen of giving their employees a raise is just that. Maybe if nobody paid federal taxes, their dollar would go just as far as Amazon's. To hide behind, 'it's the government's job' to set tax law is pretty naive. The mega-rich, like Bezos, buy preferential treatment from that same government. Sadly, it's the American way.
5
In 2019 Amazon paid $2.4 billion in income tax per publicly available SEC filings. 10-k. Page 67.
1
@In Pursuit of Value Thank you for looking it up and provided verified information rather than repeating a bunch of political malarky from the Sanders trolls.
Many peoples current issue is Amazon takes in huge profits but pays little or no income taxes.
12
@chitownlou Amazon pays what it owes. The government is responsible for setting the rules and rates for that.
5
But didn't Amazon lobby for low tax-rate for itself?
8
@yulia It doesn’t set the rate. It can merely ask.
1
Amazon is the world leader for retail. Good for you!
As you continue with more automation and optimization, jobs will change. Jobs won't go away, but they will change.
When people attack you for "automating jobs away" please have a company-wide unified message for how this is not what it seems and that it's actually a good thing for people. Automation has changed jobs since at least the industrial revolution (starting in the 17th century, so 400 years ago) and it is the reason we can afford all the life-improving stuff. It also means that, when I need a new pair of shoes, I don't walk down to my local cobbler and have him measure my feet, then wait a week or a month while he makes them.
The new jobs will be in IT, retail, quality, counseling, synthesizing new solutions, waste management, entertainment, etc., etc.
I fear the simplistic and erroneous message from Sanders that automation is the enemy of the people. Amazon has to make a stronger case that automation is a good thing.
1
If course, technology is not bad, the question is how the benefits of technology will be distributed in the society. It is nice to go to shop and by shoes, but for that you need money and for that you need job. Sure, many jobs of past were replaced by new jobs, but the conditions are also changed. We have 8hr workdays, for example. On the other side, the salaries stagnated. In Europe people got paid annual leave, sick days, maternity leaves, but not in America. I guess Sanders just wants to make sure that development of technology benefits all, not only few.
5
Love all your comments, Yulia. Thank you for contributing.
@yulia I think we probably agree that the US government should offer stronger worker protection laws, guaranteed health care and maternity leaves, etc.
But, the function of a for-profit business is profit. It's not good or bad, it just is. Making the business responsible for something *in addition to* profit would just drive businesses overseas.
Amazon is not the worst large corporation in America.
Amazon should be paying much, much more in corporate taxes.
Both of these things are true.
6
@Blarp It’s the government’s job to establish tax rules, not Amazon’s.
3
@John Amazon owns the Govt!
2
It's good to know that Amazon has made a lot of these improvements. It is to be applauded for that. I still think the very size and scope of the conglomerate violates our anti-trust laws, properly understood, and needs to be limited and broken up. Amazon, obviously, is not alone, as we start trying to dig ourselves out from under the debris of the faulty reasoning of people like Robert Bork and the Chicago School, which took the extremely shortsighted view that a merger or extension was to be encouraged if it resulted in the short term of a reduction in consumer prices, with no other considerations permitted.
8
I hope everyone looks at doughnut economics by Kate Raworth. But, in the meantime, thank you, Senator Sanders for moving the Overton window and improving lives of so many Americans already. Sanders for president in 2020!
14
An apologia for the new plantation economy. Doesn't surprise me from someone who staffed yet another Rockefeller-Republican-in-drag DINO administration.
I'm willing to go pragmatically this time with a centrist Bloomberg-Klobuchar ticket, because imo it's the only one that possibly can turn out Trump. (I'm not optimistic - it's difficult to beat an incumbent in these circumstances; see Lichtmann's 13 Keys.) And it would be refreshingly competent and actually care about America and the world. But it's discouraging that the "progressive" alternatives are too doctrinaire to have broad enough appeal and/or are tunnel-visioned and anyway can't seem to campaign their way out of a paper bag. (Paging Sherrod Brown.)
2
@JB Say "Constitutionally obligated" doesn't seem to have much weight these days.
1
If one deducts all the local and state subsidies Amazon bargains for before settling on a location, I'm sure their payment balance with the country is negative. When adding the wear and tear of the roads, and the opportunity cost of their trucks (the capacity of roads is finite) the picture becomes even worse.
Add to that the economies of scale, resulting in the centralization of activities which prime those locations for high automatization. Amazon's platform is also a huge enabler for import from China, which has a negative effect on America's trade balance. I'm sure there's a correlation there worthy of a PhD thesis.
And Amazon's jobs are hardly incremental. Without Amazon, people would not spend a lot less money on retail. Only export and technological innovation adds huge incremental value to an economy. That's certainly the case for their IT services branch (cloud computing), to be fair.
13
@Liz It sounds like you’re “sure” of a lot of things for which you have no supporting evidence. Maybe facts should come before beliefs.
Amazon is headquartered in Seattle, which is considered quite a socialistic city. The City taxes Amazon on its gross receipts, sales tax on everything, and an arcane tax for improvements. Plus, the City has had its own medical and family leave mandate for nearly a decade. The State of Washington also charges sales tax and a tax on gross receipts and it just passed its own medical and family leave mandate, which Amazon pays. Mayor Durkan voted down the "per head tax" that the City was trying to get as a number of businesses besides Amazon said they would move out if it passed. Amazon pays taxes, just not federal income tax at the moment.
@Roberta Seattle has the most regressive tax structure in the country, in large part because the state constitution prohibits an income tax. Its "socialism" is mostly woke and ineffective feel-good rhetoric.
5
@Rocky I don't disagree-just explaining the facts. FYI-I have had a WA corp for 23 years, in Seattle. No need for the mansplain.
@ Roberta 'Amazon pays taxes, just not federal income tax at the moment.'
Yeah & the deceased aren't breathing at the moment.
The problem with Amazon is that it is all about making it more convenient to consume. Most Americans consume more than we need to. We need less consumption, and more production.
9
Healthcare for EVERY worker, including part time, you can afford that Amazon, as we strive for medicare for all.
18
Having lived in countries that have universal healthcare, I want the same for Americans! To wake up knowing that when you get sick you can get the healthcare you need is a feeling almost none of us really know yet. I want this for us all! Medicare for All
3
To all those complaining about the low tax rates... they're doing it because they are allowed to.
That's the problem here. But we have a government that is asleep at the wheel.
6
@Kevin Any favorable tax agreements are the government’s fault, not Amazon’s.
1
@Kevin The government is not asleep at the wheel. The government is wide awake counting their corporate donations and lobbyist money.
6
@Kevin Not asleep. No. These politicians all know they are part of an oligarchy run by money and have just accepted this reality. Other advanced countries would never permit this. Americans just shrug and pay a much higher tax rate than any billion dollar businesses that laugh at them.
2
Who says Bernie never gets anything done? He publicly berated Jeff Bezos, it was picked up in the newspapers, and within a month, Bezos changed his policy.
And now, most of the other candidates, including Bloomberg, are co-opting his ideas. I guess as long as a "socialist" isn't suggesting them, the American voter can accept them.
Thanks Bernie!
25
Three words: Pay your taxes. Until Amazon pays its taxes the local, state and federal governments should assess fees and tolls for every public service that is used by the company and its employees.
21
@Lindy
Amazon pays its taxes like every other company. It pays state income taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes, and VATs. It zeroed out its federal income tax last year using tax credits, which is legal for any business that has posted losses to do.
Amazon was not a profitable company for most of its life. It has many losses on the books, and any company is allowed to carry forward losses as tax credits. Once the credits are used up, Amazon will have to start paying federal income taxes.
In the mean time though, they're still paying all the other taxes I mentioned. Federal income tax is not the only tax that exists.
3
Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg are intelligent people who see what's coming and try to stay ahead of the game.
We need to recognize that it's the pressure of progressive that is achieving these results ($5 trillion Bloomberg tax plan, $15 minimum wages) but we also need to ask ourselves if it's enough.
In the case of the tax plan, I would say definitely not. We need effective corporate tax rates to approach the nominal ones, if needed by means of a surtax. We need the further accumulation of money to become harder with wealth, not easier. Billionaires distort democracy. A wealth tax going after assets directly is debatable but not indefensible given how the tax code has been shaped in favor of the rich which is arguably also "taking".
In the case of minimum wages, it gives me pause. America has a lowly educated population compared to other advanced countries.
Low wages produce jobs one just doesn't see in Europe, like people sitting in a parking lot booth or holding a "slow" sign, having extended opening hours because it only takes a handful of customers per hour to keep one or two employees tending the store. We need those jobs as long as as the employability of our workforce is low.
4
Amazon didn’t reach into their pockets to pay their workers a living wage, they shuffled their terms and benefits to achieve a net zero impact.
11
You are exactly right. They moved all of the retail customer service associates offshore. There used to be huge job opportunities available to work from home but are now long gone. For the rest of us still there; we lost our stock and take calls from multiple departments, which added a lot of stress. Yes, the benefits are great, especially the health insurance. But losing the stock was a trade off and affects your bottom line at the end of the year.
2
If everyone gamed their taxes like Amazon, the country would slide into a deep financial crisis, default on payments and need bailing out by the IMF.
The reason Bezos can get away with unchecked greed and sociopathy is because millions of us Americans do take our responsibilities seriously and pay what we owe.
14
You're touting the things that any good company should already be doing as a good, corporate citizen. You're basically saying you're a good, responsible company. That's great! Personally, you're a net positive to our society. But that doesn't mean politicians/people shouldn't stay on your case to be better. For example, I'm surprised you didn't address why you tried to skim NY of billions in incentives in such a cutthroat way. I also don't see how you can't address what is reported all the time - that you pay zero or close to zero in taxes. It'd been helpful to hear your position on that.
11
amazon wants to raise federal minimum wage to drive walmart/target/home depot etc out of business so they can then raise prices..they also understand that nearly all of their low wage workers will be gone to automation very soon.
11
I have read that Whole Foods, another company owned by Jeff Bezos, has cut health insurance from its' workers benefits. Was this so that Amazon workers, under far more scrutiny, could retain their benefits?
Aside from Amazon's treatment of workers its entire business model is problematic. It has spurred the decline of brick and mortar stores, big and small, thus hurting employment opportunities in many communities even as it shifts jobs to other towns; shipping goods from centralized locations hurts our climate; and, a lack of sufficient quality control has allowed for distribution of counterfeit products.
The last time I bought anything from Amazon was when it was a source for buying new and used books and CDs. I would rather support my local retailers that employ my neighbors.
14
Dear Mr Carney,
I have read and re-read your op-ed several times, and still cannot locate the part where you explain Amazon's strategy for not only achieving a zero tax rate in 2018, but actually posting a $129 million rebate. The reason I am searching for this important piece of information is I think it would be valuable to those hundreds of thousands of Amazon employees earning a minimum of $15 an hour (congrats) and having federal income tax withheld at approximately $2000 per year.
If you are unwilling or unable to explain this strategy or believe it would not be in the best interests of the country to share methods for avoiding taxes on income and profits, perhaps you could explain, instead, Amazon's new strategy in 2020 to actually pay your fair share.
Thanks in advance for your help.
92
Of course, Amazon provided a lot of goods and services, to benefit our ever demanding consumption of what's on offer. And we appreciate also it's support of the Washington Post, among other News Media, to keep us informed in a fair manner (at least, that's the hope). But, at the same time, Amazon remains among the few mega-corporations that make it mighty difficult, if not impossible, to allow a healthy competition in this capitalistic society...so to cur down the current odious inequality...not conducent to a real democracy, where we also look after the least among us. You realize that capitalism without a hefty dose of ethics does end up with what we see, and feel, far too often, selfishness and greed. Let's trust we recognize there is much room for improvement, and PR just a job to protect the image of any given company, safeguarding the interests of our communities.
5
I could never vote for politicians who want to attack Amazon. That's where I buy all my stuff. I want the government to get out of the way.
2
@BobC Who's attacking Amazon? This piece actually praises Bernie for courteously recognizing their effort.
Of course in reality the $15 increase is mostly a publicity stunt that served both Bernie and Amazon.
1
@BobC yes that’s what I was telling those weeping mom and pop store owners and all those retail giants, get over it! Get over the fact people don’t want to buy from you, they buy everything on amazon even the tiniest article comes packaged in tons of bubble wrap and cardboard cartons, delivered to your door, you never have to step out in the cold rain sun or sleet ever again. We have a garage full of these cardboard cartons, thank goodness our town will accept them as long as we dismantle and fold the boxes and bring them to recycling containers.
2
@BobC
Your self-centered comment is kinda the same as saying "my 401(k) is doing great, so four more years of Trump!"
It's possible to be a loyal Amazon customer and still support scrutiny and oversight of their business practices. Without adequate government scrutiny, we become the product, not the consumer (see FaceBook).
2
I use Amazon almost every day. Say what you will but bashing Amazon isn't going to get any support from me. As long as they keep their relationship with their staff on a decent footing, I will continue to use them. I did NOT support NYS giving $3B in tax breaks to get the company here and why? They're coming just the same!
Sanders and Co. don't like this and they don't like that....they forget the world they live in and think that only by tearing it down can they build it up correctly. In their own image, of course. Sorry Bernie, I'm not buying what you're selling. I'll stick with Mayor Pete and the middle road.
6
@ManhattanWilliam
They're not coming "just the same". Amazon was going to open a second HQ in NYC, that's a significantly bigger investment into the city than simply acquiring another office building. 3 Billion in corporate income tax breaks is dependent on Amazon actually making a profit. Which means they'd have to have invested in infrastructure and employees in NYC, which means paying value added taxes, property taxes, and payroll taxes, all of which are local and would have gone to the city and New York state. All those employees who worked at the new HQ would also pay their own income tax, their own property tax, and their own sales taxes.
And on top of all of this: bringing in so many new people, and high paying headquarters jobs, would flood the local economy with cash. Amazon moving an HQ in would bring in a multitude of smaller businesses to support the workforce for it. And all those businesses would also pay taxes.
This is why the tax break was offered, because the cascading effects of Amazon moving a Head Quarters to NYC would bring immense amounts of revenue for the state even with the tax breaks in effect.
Also: the tax breaks would eventually expire. But by then Amazon would be rooted in NYC, they'd be paying taxes to NYC for decades.
And now that opportunity is all gone.
@ManhattanWilliam
Making fair changes to help people does not translate to " tearing it down."
Sanders is not tearing down anything, unless you listen to the media that continues it's distortion of facts. Sanders is just doing the opposite: building up your quality of life.
Buttegieg has changed his platform over and over in the past 9 months- and takes corporate funding-another lying politician.
ManhattanWilliam - what a shame you see the world in terms of consumerism - "Sorry Bernie, I'm not buying what you're selling." Bernie is not a product you can use and throw away, not selling something he will financially profit by, as the enormous risks he takes by running for president is not an envious job, with Trump unleashing a nuclear sub, and climate disaster on the horizon.
I bought a steroid generic cream the other day - for a small rash. Without insurance it would have cost (at Aetna's owned) CVS- $425. That's outrageous. When I worked for a large hospital, I had a $3,000 deductible, $50 copay for ambulance, $30 copay for MD. When I worked for small agencies, every year, we faced a different healthcare plan- which meant a potential change in MD's.
Thank god I'm lucky, very healthy, and now eligible for Medicare- and it's great. No change in MD, no deductibles, or copays.
I'm not "forgetting the world we live in," I'm remembering history and how political victories like the civil rights movement were won; through education, persevering and mostly courage.
"The employer that has added more jobs to the American economy over the last decade than any other"
Sounds nice when you don't consider Amazon's monopolistic practices or industry-leading investment into automation.
7
Amazon:
It’s great that you are paying your workers $15/hour and offering excellent health benefits. Kudos.
But have you reduced your productivity quotas for Amazon workers to decreased stress? Have you provided for adequate breaks?
Have you improved the corporate culture to promote mutual respect and cooperation, instead of relentless competition?
I’ll have more admiration for Amazon when these changes are made.
Plus: it’s disturbing that Amazon pays no U.S.taxes despite billions of profits in the U.S.
26
In an era of bumper-sticker politics it is difficult to find analysis and factuality. “Amazon largely pays no corporate tax precisely because it reinvests those profits into its operations.” (Quote from Forbes.) But demonization in the fewest possible words is the modern substitute for insight and understanding.
1
@Expat50 "But demonization in the fewest possible words is the modern substitute for insight and understanding."
The demon isn't Amazon. It's the Republicans who are enabling massive THEFT by corporations and the wealthy!
"pays no corporate tax precisely because it reinvests those profits into its operations."
So what?! That means Amazon is KEEPING the money they SHOULD be paying into the US Treasury. Suppose individual taxpayers want to "invest" the money in their home (because they have to keep a roof over their heads in order to be productive citizens), a better wardrobe (to do better on the job), their new car (so they can get to work every day), etc. Could they just tell the federal government that don't owe any taxes because they're "investing" in themselves?! Corporations need to start paying their fair share of federal income tax. Period.
Ridiculous loopholes abound, most of the put there by corporate tax lawyers and manipulation US presidents and the US Congress, most especially Republicans, but both parties are manipulated by our corrupt system!
How many shares of Amazon (or other tax-dodging corporations) do you own exactly?
2
@NY Times Fan
No shares for me until they split their stupid stock. But placing profits into R+D is surely more productive than share buybacks or executive compensation (not that they don't have those too). My point is that this is a complex issue, and Amazon (like Apple today and Microsoft when it was dominating) should be confronted on the specific issues, not in a knee jerk "I hate Amazon!" manner.
I am an Amazon Prime member. I am also a supporter of the deep ecology movement. It is not a perfect match I know, but Amazon has helped me to give up my car and all those trips to the stores for meeting just my basic needs. It also makes it affordable to send needed items to a family member at a nursing home 2000 miles away. I believe Amazon and companies like them are a potential solution to reducing vehicle trips and to help reduce our collective carbon footprint. The trucks are coming to my neighborhood not just for me, but for my neighbors as well. If only those neighbors would then consider walking and riding a bike more and trying what a careless life could be. Think of the potential for drastically reducing vehicle trips.
Amazon has done some good things, more so than most companies for entry level jobs, but they have things to improve, which with enough public pressure I think in future the changes can happen. As a deep ecology supporter, I am going to make the suggestion that they start with how things are packaged. With our wildlife dying from ingesting bits of plastic, Amazon must rid all packaging of plastic. And I don’t need my items that come in a box to be put in another box.
12
"As the employer that has added more jobs to the American economy over the last decade than any other, we at Amazon have a unique perspective."
I'd like to see an analysis done of how many stores and local businesses have gone bankrupt trying to compete with Amazon, and how many people have lost their jobs because of this.
If an honest analysis were done of the total effect Amazon has had on employment, I wouldn't be surprised if the net result were lost jobs for America.
Also whats with the Times donating free ad space in their op ed area for Amazon marketing? I'd prefer my subscription dollars not be used in this way.
22
I think your point is valid, but one should not look at Amazon’s impact and ignore the impact of Walmart and big box home improvement stores. All of these mentioned, including Amazon, hire local workers but they are catalysts for the closing of small local businesses.
8
@JWyly When the Times gives those companies free ad space in their opinion section, I'll be sure to call them out too.
2
Mr. Carney fails to note that one of Sanders' major complaints is that Amazon and other big companies and their executives don't pay a fair share of taxes or, in some cases, even any taxes.
When Amazon builds its own roads for the trucks delivering its products and its own airports and air traffic controllers for the planes that carry them or their own police officers to make sure that packages aren't stolen, then I agree that they shouldn't have to pay taxes.
And Mr. Carney and his current job after his previous one is one of the reasons that many supporters of Sanders believes that things have to change. He has the right to make as much money as he can but we have the right to worry about a system where someone who previously held a high administration position can easily shift to becoming a mouthpiece for a rapacious company.
26
One of the ironies of this is that the Bernie campaign buys most of its supplies from Amazon while simultaneously attacking them.
Recently, it was reported that many Sanders staff wanted to switch to a different vendor but were overruled by the campaign. They were told, We buy from Amazon because they have the best prices.
You can't make this stuff up.
So much for ideological purity.
8
@Simon Sez talking of ideological purity Jeff Bezos couldn’t persuade India. That’s a huge market but they don’t want amazon, yet...
2
@Simon Sez
People, like corporations, will try to save money. We have seen that corporations will do everything they can get away with to support their bottom line, and people will do the same. The problem is the system that allows and encourages this. I don't think it's hypocrisy for the Sanders campaign to use the cheapest and most efficient source of supplies, while trying to change the system that makes that the preferred choice.
I strongly support development of zero emission vehicles, massive expansion of public transportation, and abolishing the corporate welfare tax breaks for oil companies. It's not hypocrisy that I continue to drive a car that contributes to global warming (though I choose one that has good gas mileage), because where I live it's nearly impossible to manage without one. I want to live in a world where I can easily manage without one.
2
@Simon Sez source?
1
Living in a rural area, I am dependent on Amazon for its efficient delivery of goods, many of which are either not available on this island, limited in selection or prohibitively expensive. Even when the same product is available locally, it usually requires over an hour's drive. Urban people apparently don't get the immense benefit and service Amazon provides to customers like me.
5
We get that. But you don’t seem to get that one cannot live on even $15/hr in many urban areas. See all those people on the sidewalk living in tents? Many of them actually have jobs. They live on the sidewalk because wages are so pitifully low and housing costs are so godawful high.
Jeff Bezos could treat his employees better and it wouldn’t change his fabulous lifestyle one bit. He has more than he could ever spend. How much richer does he need to be?
8
@Bett Wouldn't you rather have brick and mortar stores in your community, even if you do have to travel to get to them, contributing to your local economy by employing locals, than the vast Amazon distribution/delivery service? I like the convenience of online shopping too when I can't find an item in a store in my area but I'll take a drive in my car over an online or Amazon delivery any day of the week if the item is available in a store I know.
@EMiller Actually no, the roads here are dangerous with mostly young men speeding and passing on our narrow 2-lane roads. And many rural store employees are far less helpful than Amazon's customer service--and sullen to boot. I had the same experience living in the rural California Sierras. Amazon Prime beats all of that. As for wages, I was paid $5-$8 an hour in the Sierras for local jobs in the late 1990s. $15 at Amazon is way better than what many hotel workers earn here in Hawaii.
3
Carney not mentioning paying taxes once in this article is telling. Their paying $0 in taxes on billions of dollars in profits undermines any potential good-faith arguments about public policy or civic responsibility.
21
@kuntzpet What people or companies owe the government is determined by the government, not the business. Do you blame your fellow citizens for not paying more than they owe?
As you can see from the NYT comments, nobody has more distain for Amazon than Upper West Side trust-funders who've never even seen a minimum wage pay slip. But for people who start out with nothing and have to actually earn their living, Amazon can be a good option. The work is hard, the hours long, the pay is barely competitive, but there are very good opportunities for growth and advancement. It's a very interesting place to work if you've got curiosity and a work ethic.
5
@Tom B.
Growth and advancement? Only if you are young. I know, working at ABE8, having been forced out (‘reorganized’) from the corporate world. 3+ years now, all top in rates, etc. Made learning ambassador, training MANAGERS! Getting nothing nothing higher than a tier one. All young (under 40’s) advancing. Amazon is a VERY diverse company, but ageism is visibly rampant.
4
Age discrimination is terrible in this country. And education does not help.
1
Amazon makes the best argument for unions I have heard in a long time. The simple phrase that Amazons increased to a $15 minimum wage has forced other companies to do the same, reinforces what unions did after the passage of the Wagner act in 1935. It's time to reinforce and support unions as counterbalance to laissez-faire "out-of-control" capitalism.
33
"One place to start: Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 from its current rate of $7.25 — something only members of Congress like Senator Sanders can do....."
...and put our competitors our of business! Except, of course, for the independent sellers who sell on Amazon, they're "independent businessmen" who may not be making any money at all for their work.
4
Are they paying those wages with money saved from not paying taxes or not providing warehouse workers with air conditioning?
11
As far as I know, federal/state taxes are only paid on profits. One of the reasons amazon still pays little to no tax is because of what they pay their employees.
3
Two take-aways from this article:
1. Raise the federal minimum wage to $15 from its current rate of $7.25 — something only members of Congress like Senator Sanders can do.
2. we also provide the same comprehensive health insurance and parental leave benefits to our lowest-paid associates as we do our most senior executives.
So you are barking against the wrong tree. Vote for a representative who is willing to put that into law.
And the 1.2% rax. That needs only a law to change that.
3
He sure knows how to SELL... Amazon has put many retailers out of business. They have enormous control of our politicians and Trump's tax break for the top one percent has given Bezos the biggest tax break ever. I personally shop locally and boycott Bezos/Amazon.
9
They use the roads but don't pay for them. They should pay taxes like everyone else. Bezos can afford it.
25
@Jim
Don't they pay Licensing fees for their vehicles the same way you do?
It is easier to blame the rich than to take responsibility for your condition.
@Jim Changing tax law is for the government to do, not Amazon.
Bragging about paying $15?? Given the company's profit, employees are clearly contributing a whole lot more than that. Instead of paying them what you think the minimum wage should be, let your employees earn at a rate that recognizes their true value to the company.
22
@Jerry W Amazon's profit in 2018 was about $10.1B. That is less than $1 per employee hour.
Amazon has a long way to go to become a responsible citizen who understands the social responsibility that falls on its shoulders.
16
Focusing on minimum wage nibbles at the edge of our problem. All we are doing is shambling up to Amazon’s door looking for handouts, like beggars in Dickens. We can hardly expect any help from those whose fortunes depends on not seeing the problem clearly. None of these mega companies can help us create a human economy, one with decent paying, ecologically sustainable, and fulfilling work for all people. Those should be our standards to determine whether the conversation is serious. on How do we tame the monster of capitalism so that it works for all of us?
13
@Paris Spleen "None of these mega companies can help us create a human economy, one with decent paying, ecologically sustainable, and fulfilling work for all people." Not mega corps job or small business either. Their job is to make money for owners and investors. Who says work has to be fulfilling? Can collecting garbage or cleaning septic tanks be fulfilling or just possible good paying with benefits? Human economy? There is a racoon economy? Amazon a choice for consumers who does hire workers themselves. Amazon is retail which has no history as to being great paying. Great pay is dependent on being needed and skills that are not easily replaceable. Retail and burger flippers can be replaced daily and are quickly within their industries be it big corps or small businesses. .
3
@Paris Spleen - don't like Amazon? Don't work for them or shop from them. People create businesses all the time that offer better pay and better working conditions. You are free to work for them, or start your own company.
2
@JDSept I guess you are not familiar with the term, "Human Economy".
This is generally a reference to including those in our life which are not covered by the GDP.
Such as family home-care providers, coaches, mentors, volunteers, etc.
4
I have no problem with Amazon as a company but, sorry, I'm not looking for their input on public policy.
A local NYC bookstore recently closed, in part due to rising costs associated with the increase the NYC's minimum wage. This is a store that was already struggling to compete with Amazon and the wage increase made things worse. Here we have an Amazon executive suggesting that the Federal Government mandate that businesses all over the country raise their wages, effectively handing Amazon another advantage. No thank you.
6
@SJG Business like unions and environmental concerns have a right to speak. Your choice to listen or not. The retail model has always changed with big malls putting local stand alone businesses out. Tough!! Amazon came up with a better business model to replace that book store. Who benefited? The consumer. Tomorrow my favorite pizza spot may be replaced. So? Amazon is only 40% of all e-commerce and sells way less than Wal Mart. Do they look out for their own interests? Certainly and why not? Every business does.
7
@SJG I disagree. The bookstore closed because of their landlord who charged increasingly higher rent. Small businesses are closing because they cannot create enough sales to meet rent, utilities etc. It is not just the minimum wage. We must pay a living wage to our employees so they can shop and thus increase sales to our small businesses so they can stay in business. We must pay a living wage so that workers can afford the childcare needed for them to work. The higher minimum wage does not destroy business but can keep them in business.
10
@SJG - that book store is being replaced by another local book store. Strand. While I loved Book Culture and am sad they didn't make it, I am not particularly surprised. The space was WAY too big to be economically viable, and the business model too dependent on non-book revenue.
2
Until Amazon starts paying their taxes, they can kindly step off their soapbox. $15/hr is a good start, however, Bezos earns the equivalent of that annual salary every 11.5 seconds (longer than it took me to compose this post). Amazon still reeks of corporate irresponsibility.
56
@EH Paying what taxes they owe is NOT irresponsible. paying more than they owe would be irresponsible to its stock holders. By the way business doesn't pay taxes, their customers do as much as I hate saying that. taxes only get passed on. Bezos makes what he does because of what stocks he owns same as every stockholder. That YOU don't is YOUR fault is it not?
1
@EH - they reduce their tax bill by investing in tax deductible programs like educating their work force and capital investments like new warehouse facilities. Want them to pay more taxes? Go complain to Congress who make the tax laws. I don't pay a penny more in taxes than I need to - I don't expect Amazon to either.
4
@JDSept See, I think this whole stock business is just wrong. Buying and selling stocks is a risky proposition, or it's supposed to be. If a company does well, stocks pay, and if not, they don't. But I still think the number one priority of a business is to its workers and to the customers. The company may feel obligated to the stockholders first, but really shouldn't, because without workers and without customers, there are no stockholders.
1
A key word is missing from this column, as well as from the comments: Antitrust.
Amazon needs to be broken up into multiple, competing companies. In the 20th century, it was understood that a competitive marketplace was essential for an efficient economy with a minimum of corruption. That idea seems to have been lost, and we need to bring it back.
I would also add Apple, Facebook, and Alphabet (Google) to the list of major companies that should be subjects of antitrust laws.
18
@AKJersey Amazon isn't even 50% of the e-commerce market and sells less than their competitor Wal Mart.
3
I have heard that with the raise to $15, Amazon reduced full-time hiring and restricted part-time hours. Does anyone know if this is true?
3
@paulb Yes, they've been increasingly replacing their workforce with automated systems for years now, and it's only ramping up.
Humans are inefficient. Amazon knows that.
4
@paulb Amazon seems to function selling and delivering at a very good rate so they have the employees they need. Should they pay people they don't need? If they weren't satisfying the marketplace they wouldn't do so well. Business reduces full-timers all the time to lessen health care costs. Business of all sizes. Health care needs to be addressed so it doesn't hurt business or employees. With new meds, new procedures, new tech it is only going to get more expensive. I doubt it can be really lessened as to cost.
2
But when all the humans no longer have jobs, who is going to buy their stuff? Robots don’t shop.
1
Fellow Readers (and politicians), I beg, stop picking on Amazon.
Amazon is a true American success story, making life better for a huge number of consumers while employing a vast number of Americans, and largely acting in good faith. I wish that we generated more companies like Amazon.
Does it get crazy tax breaks? Certainly.
So do Boeing and hundreds, if not thousands, of other companies.
Since it is starting to control the entire supply chain, from production, to sales, to delivery, regulatory oversight is probably in order.
Would the carbon footprint be less if ordered my products from each company directly? Methinks not. I like shopping at brick-and-mortar shops, but they will never dominate again.
Should Amazon pay more taxes. Yep. But it our government that is allowing the to not pay. Don't blame Amazon, blame the people we elect.
Does Bezos have an insane amount of money. Most definitely. Did he do so illegally. No. Don't blame him, blame our tax structure.
The vast majority of criticisms leveled at Amazon could apply to a large number of corporations. Don't blame Amazon. Blame our legislators who have failed to produce appropriate laws and regulations.
52
@Steven Thank you for your reasoned and measured response. You speak with forbearance, forethought and freshness. May God bless you.
4
@Steven ALL these big companies need to start paying their fair share in taxes. They use our roads, air space, security, etc.. The chicken and the egg is that the policitians are bought and paid for by the same people who write these unfair tax laws.
3
@Steven
Exactly.
1
Amazon is not an angel or a devil.
All the stuff mentioned in the article is good. But Amazon does also make huge profits. Just pay your fair share of taxes (again, you can do this without legislation forcing you too, just like you did with minimum wage), and I think Americans will have to come to embrace the Amazon model despite its impact on brick and mortar stores.
6
@Ben Why would anybody individually or as a business pay more than they actually owe by law? YOU send in extra money at tax time? A business that pays taxes not owed could probably be sued by stockholders for mismanagement.
2
15 is just a number. With inflation, everyone will eventually be billionaires but that won't make everyone 'rich'.
Amazon's growth comes largely at the expense of local stores, which are relatively inefficient in part because they employ more people and distribute money more widely. These strengths and weaknesses are not changed by raising the minimum wage to $15/hr. Some commenters note that a higher wage could accelerate the trend by making small stores even less economical. That noted, it is a welcome sign of civility that Sanders could appreciate Amazon's move, which surely helped many workers.
To reverse growing wealth disparity, which threatens our society and democracy, we need the sorts of broad, historic, systematic views that Warren, Sanders, and Yang have brought to the public debate.
13
@Reuel
There will be no more local stores in a few years.
@Reuel. The internet and online shopping regardless of Amazon is what is turning brick and mortar businesses up side down. Not Amazon. Just look back 20 to 25 years ago and see what the internet did to brick and mortar travel agancies before Amazon existed. I'll bet you will be very hard pressed to find a brick and mortar travel agency is your area despite air travel tripling in 25 years. Picking on Amazon merely disguises what is happening.
Amazon would also do society a favor by not calling workers by a misleading and falsely elevating term, fulfillment center associates. There is no shame in being a warehouse worker or stock person, and I'm sure employees would rejoice in those titles if they were paid a livable wage. And how about giving all employees stock options, so that all workers would share in the bounty of increasing wealth of Amazon.
25
@Dr B But Budweiser and many other corps tell me using their products will make me much happier LOL LOL. Livable wage or any wage is just what the marketplace says what it is. Burger flippers get their pay because they are easily replaced. When there is a shortage wages would go up. Stock options seems like that is a company policy to be decided by the company. UPS does Fed Ex doesn't. Again company and marketplace decisions.
@JDSept Agree as to the setting of minimum wage. I believe that if unions had insisted on stock options instead of wage increases it would have had 2 very positive effects: workers and management would have aligned goals, and workers would receive way more wealth than by an increase in salary (that is why so many high tech workers are rich even if they had a salary of less than $100K a year).
1
@Dr B Amen! When I see the word, "associate" used in that phony manner it turns my stomach. The word, "Walmart" also flashes into my mind immediately.
Adjusted for inflation I believe minimum wage would be around $35 in order to give workers quality of life they had in the 1950s and '60s. Only in very inexpensive areas of the country can anyone live on fifteen dollars an hour. But it´s better than seven I guess.
44
@Michael Poverty rate has remain very consistent other rthan times of huge down turns in the economy at about 15%. Quality of life in the 50s and 60s? 1960 it really wasn't measured but estimate at until 1959. In 1960 it was just over 22%, today its at 12%. Who says one gets to live on what they get paid? Teen baggers in grocery stores live on their pay? Burger flippers? Retail workers? They didn't in 1950 1960 or today.
For centuries, humans have pursued technology as a way to relieve ourselves of the drudgery of labor.
However, there has also been intense resistance along the way. Think about that: People resisted technology so they could continue toiling fields from dusk till dawn; They opposed automation because they wanted to continue riding down into the depths to mine coal in the most dangerous conditions imaginable for a pittance in wages.
Why? Why would people fight to continue a life of debilitating labor and to live like serfs?
The reason should be clear: People are fearful of losing their livelihood because the current system all but ensures that the benefits of labor-saving technology do not flow to the laborers, but instead accrue to the capital owning class.
I, for one, embrace a future where humans are unchained from the shackles of work. But to get there we must also move beyond requiring work as condition for economic security. Otherwise we are looking towards a dystopian future that turns us back centuries to the dark ages of feudalism and serfdom.
There is an alternative path, less dystopian and more Utopian, but this path demands that we start working towards a universal basic income for all.
16
@Celeste - feudalism and serfdom? Why, welcome to our future (we're already there!) ...
4
@Celeste
Labor saving technology is a myth. In most industry, labor saving tech has killed jobs, or made your job more difficult in terms of time, thinking critically, and ironically, efficiency.
We know what slave labor did to the human body, and the current research is in on how social media is changing our brains, not in healthy ways. Between twitter, and facebook alone- we are dumbing down huge swaths of people's minds.
It is not rocket science to improve quality of life for everyone. Unfortunately we know from neuroscience and from history, and from Jay Carney's words in this article, that the human brain has the capacity to work for you or against you. It all depends on what you tell it and how often you practice what you tell your brain.
So if you continue to profit in the current economic system, and you're rewarded by it financially and socially, your brain gets a neurochemical boost - which makes you feel good. The neurochemical boost builds a circuitry in your brain that encourages you to repeat what you're doing.
Such is part of the process of substance abuse and misuse, as well as the process of pathological lying.
We are living in an age where pathological lying, lying by omission and distortion of facts is running rampant and readily accessible for all to digest. How else could Mr. Carney ignore the reality of what Amazon has aided and abetted-the destruction of the middle class.
And similar to any kind of addiction, the denial is great.
@Celeste - lot of truth to this. As we increase productivity to the point where only 5% of our population's "work" is enough to shelter, clothe, and feed us, how does the economy evolve to make room for the other 95%? UBI is a good idea, but not a silver bullet.
2
Barak Obama signed an executive order for overtime pay for full time low wage workers. It was an executive order because the republican house and senate refused to review it. One of Donald Trumps first efforts was to rescind this order which means low wage full time workers don’t get the overtime. Did Amazon stick with this law anyway? Of course not which is why workers earning less than $50k per year should never vote republican - you leave yourself at their mercy and republicans have proven that they are just not that into 90 percent of us.
152
@Deirdre
Thank you Deirdre, for that comment! Unfortunately, Obama was a weak president and with both a Democratic House and Senate - he could have accomplished real change by putting all his efforts into campaign finance, that is the etiology of our biggest problems, and would have greatly impacted healthcare. Obama failed to get out of the WH bubble (physically and metaphorically), in order to organize and educate the public.
Like Bernie or not - this is one important message from his candidacy. You have to get out of the WH and continue organizing people to fight back, otherwise politicians will just sit and continue with feeding us crumb crumbs.
If you don't reach out to poor and working class, they will rebel. It's only a matter of time.
7
Amazon uses more US infrastructure than any other company yet pays almost nothing in federal taxes. It’s not a crime but it should be.
479
@Deirdre Deirdre, The primary reason Amazon pays a low tax rate is that they re-invest in their people and business versus dividends and stock buybacks. That is how they have become the employer of over 600,000 people. They also have the benefit of NLO's which are the accumulated losses, yes, losses, they incurred in the many years they lost money while investing in their future. NLO's are used by all companies, and also individuals, when computing their taxes. And you accuse then is a CRIME?
6
@Deirdre Actually is an indictment of a tax code at both state and federal level that is too complex with deductions designed to lower taxable income. Both parties participate in the design structure since the tax code power is ultimately in taxable income.
Don't vilify companies for taking advantage of the tax code as written.
9
If you’re referring to it’s use of highways, then it most certainly pays its share through gasoline and other transportation taxes and fees.
7
In the Gilded Age, the many conflicts between management and labor were less about individual policies than about overall control of the work day—workers wanted to have some agency in their own day-to-day lives. While paying workers a living wage and creating jobs is admirable, is Amazon doing enough to let workers feel some control over their own lives? Or should we anticipate more stories about warehouse pickers being told they can’t use the bathroom, having health emergencies management doesn’t take seriously, and facing unreasonable, inhuman expectations leading to exhaustion and despair?
16
In the Gilded Age, the many conflicts between management and labor were less about individual policies than about overall control of the work day—workers wanted to have some agency in their own day-to-day lives. While paying workers a living wage and creating jobs is admirable, is Amazon doing enough to let workers feel some control over their own lives? Or should we anticipate more stories about warehouse pickers being told they can’t use the bathroom, having health emergencies management doesn’t take seriously, and facing unreasonable, inhuman expectations leading to exhaustion and despair?
2
The 1.2% effective tax rate Amazon paid on $13 billion profits hardly covers their fair share of maintenance and capacity of the road infrastructure they massively use.
So yes, bravo for raising the minimum wage but please pay your fair share of taxes too.
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@Liz
They won't because they are addicted to power and money and need to keep the lies going, otherwise the facade, they have created, would crumble.
We see examples of this in the white collar criminals such as Madoff and Michael Cohen. They were so addicted to their lifestyle, it took jail to bring them down. And while Michael Cohen supposedly was able to beat his money and power addiction, by stating he made a mistake, Madoff I don't think has ever repented.
Amazon is no different.
Amazon wants a 15 dollar minimum wage, because they can pay it an many of their competitors, like local small businesses, can’t.
It’s easier for Amazon to raise the minimum wage of its employees, because their workers are valuable pieces of a global distribution network.
It is much more difficult for local small business to pay 15 dollars an hour, they must compensate their employees differently.
5
The answer is for all businesses to pay a federally mandated minimum wage of at least $15/hr. That way all small business owners will raise their prices on goods or services to compensate without any individual business being hurt relative to any others. To not do so, at a time when large businesses like Amazon and Walmart will pay $15/hr or more, is to lose every employee, and eventually to lose your business. You should not be fighting such a proposal, you should embrace it. While $15 may seem like a healthy hourly wage, it will not allow for housing, food and medical care in most places in this country, so anything less is just not going to cut it. Yes, it will produce an increase in inflation, most likely, but a modest one, given that labor costs are a modest part of the cost of goods in most cases, and it will put a lot more money in the hands of a great many consumers.
3
Different compensation? What exactly do you mean by that?
I still have the same bills, the same needs as everyone else, yet because I work for a small business it’s OK to pay me less. Fantastic. I’m sure that will help with the rent. I’ll just explain to the landlord that I work for a small business I’m sure they will fall all over themselves to offer me a break in the rent.
1
Thank you for what you have done for our workers. I was unaware of some of the details you share, Mr. Carney. It is appreciated. My son is one of your warehouse workers, and I am super glad to hear he has good health insurance. There is something I am concerned about (I am a Human Physiologist), and that is the ergonomic challenges warehouse workers are said to face that damage their skeletomuscular systems, as well as the time quotas that keep people from using the restroom as needed. Is this being addressed? I hope so. Again thanks for the helpful information.
11
Many of these commenters complain that Amazon pays a low tax rate. What company or individual pays more taxes than legally required? If you don’t like the tax laws, work to change them. Don’t complain about companies who obey the law.
11
These companies bought to politicians that made these laws.
2
“Amazon is doing exactly what many lawmakers and critics insist the private sector should do.”
I missed where lawmakers or critics are insisting you pay zero taxes.
Also missed where lawmakers and critics insist that your growing practice of censorship proceed with zero transparency as to the rules (if any) governing which books should be deleted or allowed to be sold. As reported elsewhere in today’s Times.
18
What is Amazon's average hourly pay for its warehouse associates?
What is Amazon's net carbon footprint? Shopping at a brick and mortar store requires my using my car. I use my own bags, but Amazon's corrugated packages create lots of carbon creation.
So what's the net effect on our environment? On carbon reduction vs. carbon creation?
Amazon is big enough and profitable enough to start their associates at 25$ per hour and on-site daycare for their kids. to use a fleet of electric trucks. And develop biodegradable packaging .
That will do more to set a standard of expectations with American workers that will move the needle more than 100 Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrens ever could. And get Amazon more customers and a higher stock price.
15
Bernie was right to congratulate Amazon on raising their minimum wage to $15 an hour. The federal minimum wage should be raised to $15 as well. It's a start.
8
It is torture to read "opinion" pieces by corporate flacks. Carney's job is to insert just enough facts in this piece to ensure it meets a minimum standard for informing the public while all the while selling the Amazon brand. I don't care what anyone says highly automated warehouse / distribution hubs are not "fulfillment centers" and never will be. Amazon is to be commended for jumping on the minimum wage train after it left the station, but Amazon is hardly saintly in doing so. We know that from repeated reports of numbing working conditions at many Amazon facilities and the company's actions pulling out of LI City, NY that the company's recognition for labor rights only goes so far. Then Mr. Carney I'm sure is well aware that terms like union-busting and fulfillment centers make for an odd mix.
180
NYC did 25k people a huge disservice by driving Amazon out. That’s on us, not Amazon.
3
@Sam You don’t seem to understand the meaning of the word “fulfillment” in business terminology. It refers straightforwardly to the completion of the ordering process. It has nothing to do with personal satisfaction, and so your railing against it is silly.
Per Merriam Webster:
“ 2 : the act or process of delivering a product (such as a publication) to a customer
the fulfillment of a book order”
4
Like any innovative, dynamic, enterprise, Amazon has done lots of good, and it has done some bad. Skilled advocates or detractors can fashion effective arguments either way. But Amazon, like all corporations, from the largest to the smallest, are in business primarily to increase profits and wealth for the people who own them. Workers, technology, etc. are mainly means to that end, and are deployed and compensated accordingly. In Amazons case, it’s primary owner, Mr. Bezos, undoubtedly a brilliant man, owns more wealth than, what, one fourth of the worlds population combined? Whatever the amount, the human misery caused by this disparity is hard to put into words. But I do know that until and unless our economic system changes so that the wealth it creates is more equitably shared, especially with the workers who now must subsist on inadequate hourly pay checks, the problems bedeviling our society will persist. Momma may have, papa may have, but God bless the child that’s got his own.
9
@Mike Alexander .... "Whatever the amount, the human misery caused by this disparity is hard to put into words."....Are you arguing that the economy is a zero sum game; that whatever Bezos has, someone else in the world necessarily doesn't have; that Bezos' wealth causes other people to be impoverished?
1
Money does nothing for most people if it just sits there, being hoarded by a few.
1
It was within Bernie Sander's value system to praise Amazon for raising the minimum wage. It is over and above what most politicians do for him to call personally to do so. This praise is not an endorsement of everything Amazon has done and is doing. Jay Carney does not acknowledge the grace of Bernie Sander's call -- he mentions it to give himself and his company a gloss of approval that goes well beyond what Sanders said.
17
Lot's of naysayers posting about Amazon's real or perceived shortfalls. That's ok, but at $15 an hour, and benefits for a large online retailer, that's a lot more than most.
The entity to be criticized for a decent wage and benefits resides in Washington. Get the Goverment to act, and then it places all private enterprises on the same playing field.
12
actually we all have to act since the government won't. the best thing to do is stop buying from amazon.
1
I'll more likely believe in Amazon's good intentions when they:
1) Extend the offer of regular employment to its drivers and other contract workers (of which there are far too many--I personally believe contract workers should only fill gaps) so they, too, may benefit;
2) Take responsibility for and actually doing something to allay housing crisis that ensues when Amazon (and other tech companies) drive up the housing costs by offering high paying jobs--which are taken up by outsiders rather than residents (including foreigners), in turn strapping long term residents--rather than running and creating a bidding war for a new location;
3) Oh, and definitely support a change in tax law so that Amazon and others large companies pay into the US economy, rather than seeking every possible loophole resulting in the average guy subsidizing Amazon, particularly Bezos.
Sorry, but people like Bezos do not come by insane wealth honestly or by doing the right thing.
42
Missing in this article is how Amazon has put small stores out of business. Just look at the empty storefronts on the Upper West Side, Bleecker Street and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. If I need a filter for my water pitcher, I can no longer walk to my local home store and pick one up. I’m forced to order it online from Amazon. Just walk into a Whole Foods in NY and you will see that the ratio of low paid Prime Now workers to shoppers is at least 10 to 1. We work better as a society when we’re engaging with our community. This is what Jeff Bezos has destroyed.
44
@Lea Kay This is the same complaint that people have made for years about Walmart. They argue that small businesses deserve to charge higher prices to consumers because they always have. I would venture that the vast majority of Americans prefer the low prices and product availability of Amazon and Walmart over the nostalgia of small businesses that offer nothing more. There are, of course, businesses that fill niche needs not filled by large retailers. They are the exception. Amazon has introduced a minimum wage far higher than that paid to entry workers at the small businesses you pine for. Jeff Bezos has created an entire industry that consumers and employees benefit from.
14
Jeff Bezos didn’t destroy anything. His company provides goods and services in a manner that people choose to buy from it. Consumers have a choice. Many choose Amazon because it’s fast, reliable and offers good value.
8
It’s amazing that we all support Capitalism and scream against Socialism until Capitalism rewards the guy who invents a better mouse trap which results in putting others with an inferior mouse trap out of business. I’m sure the buggy whip people complained bitterly when cars came along. I could use the same argument about the fazing out the use of coal.
We have to reward innovation, be ready to change, educate people to meet these changes ( govt has to be ready to change too so new businesses pay their fair share in taxes & treat their workers fairly - recognize unions would be nice too.) this is how you greet the future, with confidence not trepidation!
3
Agreed, $15 minimum wage is good.
But it would also be nice if Amazon paid its fair share of taxes.
Federal income taxes for 2019: $162 million on $13.3 billion of U.S. pre-tax income, an effective tax rate of 1.2%.
In 2017 and 2018, the Seattle-based company reported a combined $266 million in current tax refunds those years.
In the meantime, the 2020 deficit is projected to increase to $1 Trillion as a result of the 2017 tax cuts for the rich.
The projected ten year increase in the debt is $12 Trillion which is $80,000 per taxpayer.
To be paid for by us, our children, and grandchildren.
What does Mr. Carney have to say about this?
Seattle Times:
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-touts-2019-federal-taxes-but-the-picture-is-complicated/
26
@Independent All major business seek to pay the least taxes our system permits. Your complaint should be with our politicians who enact tax laws that benefit large tax payers, not the businesses that use those tax laws to their benefit. Show me the big businesses that voluntarily pay more taxes that the law requires. They would be failing their obligations to their shareholders.
5
@A2CJS
Agreed.
On the other hand, Warren Buffet says it's wrong when he pays a lower rate than his secretary.
Haven't heard that from Jeff Bezos.
6
As soon as we get a new president in that isn't interested in "making Trump and Russia great again", then we all need to sit down and write up rules on tech. Privacy laws, monopoly laws, employee protections, consumer protections. The list is long, companies like Amazon if not regulated have the potential to do really bad things in the future.
12
@Missy
And we can add to what you mentioned, maybe we can get them to pay their fair share of taxes.
As you said, the list is long.
11
Companies like Amazon want the minimum wage raised because it would absolutely crush their competition.
Amazon is a great company, but they aren't the best place to work for everyone. There are people who make a conscious decision to work for less money at a competitor for a multitude of reasons - scheduling, job satisfaction, work-life balance, etc. Take a look at their attrition numbers and you will see that over 50% of their employees leave within a year. By making everyone pay the same as them immediately, many Amazon competitors would go out of business before the market forced Amazon to increase their pay rates. Large corporations don't pay their employees above minimum wage out of the goodness of their hearts; they pay above minimum wage because that is what they have to do. It would be great if candidates let individuals decide how they wanted to participate in the market.
6
@Bill Are you seriously arguing that employees should not be paid a higher minimum wage? If competitors cannot keep up with wages, they need to cut costs elsewhere, such as executive and owner compensation. My priority is worker wages over subsidizing inefficient competitors.
4
Ignored in Carney's Opinion piece is how Amazon has changed our buying habits with dire environmental consequences.
Amazon has gotten consumers hooked on not just switching from bricks and mortar to online buying, but "next day" and "same day" delivery. Instead of walking to the supermarket or the convenience store, our streets are clogged with trucks, some making 2 and 3 deliveries to the same blocks each day. Wrapping every single item in its own package is horrible waste. This is destroying our neighborhood retail communities and degrading our environment.
Amazon and other needs to help consumers get "unhooked" by promoting less frequent deliveries to allow them to consolidate and reduce their truck deliveries. And small retailers can be helped collectively to better track inventory so when consumers need something the same day, they can find it at a store near them.
95
@mg I disagree. You assume people are able to walk to retail stores and supermarkets. With the exception of people living in urban environments, you need to get into your car and drive to a store or supermarket. Amazon's deliveries avoid the need to drive to get your products (think of the suburbs and rural areas). And how about seniors and the disabled? Think of how Amazon helps them.
32
@mg "switching from bricks and mortar to online buying"
Think about this: Your car and probably anywhere between 10 and 20 are not on the road replaced by one delivery truck.
19
@Yahoo This is where Elon Musk's "Hyper-loop" machine would come in handy. Every time I go to the drive through at the bank and use the vacuum tubes to send my deposit I think, "why can't we use this technology to deliver mail and packages with underground vacuum tubes?"
2
Just scrutiny? This is a company that has made billions by exploiting its workers and making thousands of others jobless as smaller businesses close.
68
Bernie and his supporters understand economics and business as children.
They are concerned with what they want rather than what they’ve earned.
8
@Brad Yes, Bernie Sanders and other "children" are indeed concerned with what they want: an ability to earn a living wage. Meanwhile, the presumably mature elders like you who seek to criticize them seem to have some kind of deficit: perhaps way back when you didn't do so well on math and thus you haven't yet figured out that if you earn $7.50/hour, that translates into $15,600 per year income. That's wage slavery. Not to mention that those "wages" most often don't include any insurance benefits and of course no pension benefits. So in your deep, mature wisdom I am sure you have some profound insights into what people should do, now that jobs have dried up and for the few who can get employment, they are oftened scraps, like peons, and have to turn to government just to stay alive. Those who promote exploitation of workers in the 21st century cannot be called children: They are fully conscious, ignorant or craven adults, responsible for their actions.
6
@Valerie
So which is it Bernie supporters:
Amazon is to be congratulated for increasing their minimum wage nationwide (more than double the Federal) and providing health insurance?
Is to be congratulated for competing for good labor in a tight labor market?
Is to be congratulated for pressuring other companies to raise their wages?
OR
Amazon is to be vilified for making too much money, being too successful, making many employees wealthier, meeting or exceeding Federal law, putting competitors out of business, advancing robotics to replace repetitive labor, allowing communities to compete for(re)locating their business?
2
Here’s the question we should all be asking. If Amazon - or a competitor - could do the same amount of work with 200,000 instead of 400,000 workers would it do it? Answer - under the current rules of the game it could not do otherwise. And the possibility of being able to do that is not far off. So the follow up question is what should happen to the 200,000 who lose your $15 an hour, healthcare and benefits? Notice the term is “your” healthcare not “their” healthcare. It’s only theirs if they can’t lose it?
10
Bernie Sanders understands that wealth inequality is the greatest threat to the success of our democracy.
Setting aside the messenger here, the gamed system that lobbyists and corporations (pharmaceutical companies, for example) have created is designed to milk US citizens of every cent they have, and keep the 1% dominant for generations.
Sanders is building his entire campaign on small donations, and Amazon is not giving him a dime. If we do anything in this next election cycle, it will be that we break this rigged game.
60
@UTBG
Sanders is quite far from being the only person who understands the threat of income inequality. He'd also make an abysmal president, because he thinks and inspires the kind of us/them perspective reflected in your comment. Voters (or really non-voters) have allowed the current status quo. All of us have made this situation and until we all take responsibility for it, it will continue. There will be no one savior, and Sanders certainly ain't one by a long shot. Stop the idealization.
12
I was on the fence between Warren and Sanders, but this piece just made up my mind for me. Warren is my candidate.
23
One thing is for certain, from a consumer perspective Amazon is a fabulous company. It's ability to ship products that you need with such efficiency and speed is extraordinary. We often forget the genius of this company in the service it provides.
13
@Jim
There is a cost to the "efficiency and speed". And often they don't even do that well.
This past Christmas I decided we were going to be Amazon-free, because I don't like the way they treat their workforce. This involved very little extra effort and no extra cost. Meanwhile, we were able to support local businesses. Win-win.
16
@Jim ... at the expense of ALL retail in the United States. That's great, Jim. Congrats on the level of your perceived convenience.
Mr. Carney, $15 an hour may sound to you like a beneficent wage, but it's a pithy sum. A good portion of Amazon's workers experience high stress or may be put in harm's way on the daily. Netting around $25,000 a year does little to raise your workers out of lower middle class Purgatory.
When you are willing to consider a true living wage - coupled with safety conditions commensurate with the job demands - it would be a fine thing to see you pen an opinion piece.
23
Policians love to attack Amazon for paying no taxes, but a quick search of why generates this from the Wall Street Journal: "Amazon has paid income taxes somewhere, albeit at a low rate, likely helped by deductions and incentives related to investment, research and employee compensation."
Instead of Democrats piling on Jeff Bezos, maybe they should pile on all the Republicans who voted for our insane tax laws, which award all these tax breaks to corporate entities.
I'm not saying it's not obscene on the surface that Amazon technically pays no taxes--what's obscene are our tax laws that favor and protect the accumulation of profits and wealth at the expense, often, of the little guy who don't get a chance for deductions.
I understand why Sanders praised Amazon's minimum wage hike, but if they want to go after Amazon's balance sheet, they should turn to Washington, not Amazon headquarters.
268
@christineMcM True, but corporations, with their lobbies are the ones who alter the laws to make this possible in the first place. Our elected officials largely benefit from these types of changes (as they, too, are mostly far wealthier than most) so they will prioritize laws that help them evade taxes.
Additionally, Democrats aren't going to get anywhere with Republicans until people start electing more Democrats to office at the local, state and federal levels.
40
@christineMcM Hmm, I think you're talking about a fine line here. When politicians, like Warren and Sanders, point out that Amazon is not paying taxes it is an attack on the broader tax system. I think that's pretty clear where their contempt is aimed. I hear the same misplacement of criticism when folks who oppose Sanders accuse him of hating billionaires or just rich people. Again, it's not personal, it's a condemnation of a system that enables individuals to accumulate ridiculous wealth when millions live beneath the poverty line. Tom Steyer, who stands a few feet away from Bernie during debates doesn't seem to take it personally.
30
@Rhonda: absolutely. To change the top you have to change the bottom.
2
Words that do not appear in this article: “inequality,” “wealth,” “gap,” “citizen,” “citizenship,” “society,” and of course “tax.”
An argument can and has been made that corporations should not be expected to concern themselves with the meanings of such terms. But I don’t think that’s the argument being made by Sanders.
14
Maybe if Amazon paid its fair share of taxes it would help finance the crumbling infrastructure that it exploits .
It's also ironic seeing a former Obama administration employee working for this tax cheating company. Will the Democratic Party elite ever understand the rage of its base?
564
@Jay Karno
Amazon IS paying it’s fair share of taxes. It’s paying EXACTLY what the law specifies. No more, no less. Amazon takes every legal deduction allowed by law! I do too! And I’d wager everyone reading this does too!
Should Amazon pay more in taxes? Absolutely! The problem is not with Amazon or any other big corporation! The problem lies with CONGRESS! All Congress has to do is change the tax laws to make it equitable.
But our illustrious congressman and woman know to vote in an equitable tax law means those millions of dollars corporations will then have to pay will come from dollars that would otherwise have gone into campaigns of those who voted for change, and/or go to their opponents at election time.
If you look at most of our present ills, you’ll see that most often it’s our Congress people not doing what’s right, but rather doing what’s necessary to finance their campaigns.
120
Who pays the campaign donations? These same big companies, and they then get to create the rules for taxes. So yes, they are to blame for this.
27
@Jay Karno
If the Bernie people hate Amazon so much why do they insist on giving them most of their campaign business?
Many Sanders staff recently criticized the campaign's loyalty to Amazon saying that they needed to do the right thing and find another vendor.
The campaign replied that they saved money with Amazon and wouldn't switch.
Gotta love those Socialists when it comes to money.
7
I am curious what your sophisticated spreadsheet models are saying about the number of warehouse workers and drivers Amazon expects to have in, say, 10 years.
Knowing that will provide indispensable context as I seek to understand Amazon's true level of commitment to workers and society.
19
Hmm, as I recall, at the same time Amazon was enacting its much ballyhooed $15 minimum hourly wage, the company did away monthly bonuses and stock options for hourly employees. Much of the coverage in the business press seemed directed at reassuring the investor class that the move would not affect Amazon’s bottom line, indeed, would ultimately reduce overall compensation for many workers and save the company money.
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@Glenn Baldwin
"...the company did away monthly bonuses and stock options for hourly employees"
And health insurance for part time employees
10
@Glenn Baldwin
And Amazon's safety record is worse than most companies. Injuries are common because of the pace the workers are required to uphold.
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@Glenn Baldwin
Yes it was a shell game.
10
Tax rate of 1.2%? How do you defend that?
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@Gus
You understand that American law allows a company to deduct business expenses while they are expanding right? If you don't agree with that law, then you should call your local congressman to campaign to change it. But asking Amazon to voluntarily pay more than what is required would be indefensible.
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@Jerome And when Amazon pays local congresspeople more money than any number of calls could be worth? What then?
This is why it's a broken system from the ground up. You can't make change without removing money from politics and you can't remove money without making change.
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And what good would that do? You think my local congressman is going to pay attention to what I say when they get their donations from these very same big corporations that pay so little in taxes?
18
When Bezos spends $1.7 million, it’s like the average American spending $1.
No human being deserves nor needs that much wealth. The system is fundamentally broken!
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@Matt
He does deserve though, WE ALL GAVE IT TO HIM. Because he provided a service that we want.
If he stops deserving it, then the money will deplete, as he makes poor investment choices.
But as long as hes providing a valuable service that we choose to pay for than he deserves what we willing give him.
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@Matt
Deserving and needing are, never have been, and never will be criteria for wealth.
8
To a point. But when extreme inequality gets bad enough, the pitchforks and torches come out. That is bad for everyone, rich and poor. Better that Bezos should share a little more with the people that make his business function. He doesn’t run that entire business on his own, after all. He’s have nothing without his warehouse workers and drivers.
3