I’m generally not the type of writer who wakes up and says, “You know what, I want to defend the rich today.” I do believe the system is gamed to favor elites. I also believe that wealth inequality may be reaching unsustainable levels. Still, the recent moral outrage from the Progressive left against Jeff Bezos always struck me as disingenuous. And I write this as someone who leans left.
Targeting Amazon for wages seemed like folly to me. Amazon was already paying above the $10.10 minimum wage for which many Democrats have been pushing. Right now, the average Amazon warehouse worker is earning $13-plus. The wages were also in line with Bernie Sanders’ goal of gradually raising the minimum wage to $15. $13-something is already pretty close.
Why not target companies that are paying much lower wages? Take fast food restaurants, for example. On average, many of them pay less than $10 dollars an hour. McDonald’s, which employs roughly 375,000 in the United States alone, pays its employees much less than Amazon (never mind Amazon’s generally good benefits). McDonald’s has agreed to ensure that workers are still earning at least a dollar above minimum wage. But what’s that mean? Eight something an hour falls far short of Amazon’s warehouse pay.
I can’t help but wonder now if America missed a good opportunity to target companies that are paying far lower than Amazon. And would this have generated more benefit for workers? What if Sanders had targeted Burger King, Taco Bell, and other companies that are often paying less than $10 an hour?
To be clear, we should be ecstatic that Amazon is raising its wages. They’ll soon be making $15 at minimum. The wage increase will make a big difference for those folks. Still, Amazon workers were already doing better than many other low-skill workers are right now.
According to both Amazon and Glassdoor.com, which encourage employees to share their salary and other information, the average Amazon warehouse worker was making $12-14 an hour before the wage hike. The pay rates are also in line with what Costco pays its retail employees. I point that out because people often cite Costco as an example of a retailer able to pay fair and livable wages far higher than many fast-food restaurants and other retailers. What makes Costco a good actor and Amazon a bad one?
Further, in the United States compensation isn’t just about salary. Benefits are also vital. This is where things get even more interesting. Amazon’s corporate workers are known for getting pretty generous benefits. And Amazon claims that it extends those same benefits to its warehouse workers, which are quite exceptional for what is ultimately unskilled work. I don’t mean that to disparage “unskilled” workers, but the reality in America today is that it’s hard for anyone to get good benefits.
There’s another excellent benefit Amazon offers: paid college tuition. Amazon will pay up to $12,000 for people to study aircraft mechanics, nursing, computer aided design, or machine tooling. Interestingly, Amazon doesn’t need too many nurses or aircraft mechanics, but all of these fields offer great career opportunities for employees.
What ultimately strikes me as disingenuous about the Amazon backlash is that the company is doing what progressives want. They were already offering salaries well above the minimum wage. They offer good healthcare and other benefits. They provide jobs for “unskilled” workers. They’re even providing educational opportunities. And yet this is the company Bernie Sanders and others have decided to lambaste.
This doesn’t mean Amazon is or was an angel before the pay raise. Reportedly, working conditions in their warehouses are quite abysmal. Whether that’s hyperbole or the truth, I don’t know. Having worked in similar jobs, I have no doubt that the work is mind-numbing and physically grueling. Still, not every job can be completed in the comfort of a cubicle farm.
If Amazon’s working conditions are poor, why not slam them for that? If the company is using clever accounting to avoid corporate taxes, why not go after that? In my opinion, I see little to gain in going after a company that is paying well above minimum wage and even above market rates. When Amazon warehouses open up, they are usually flooded with applications.
Hopefully, pressure on Amazon lightens up. Automation is coming either way, but continued bad press could encourage Amazon to speed up the process. Good press, which Amazon is getting now, might slow the push towards automation and outsourcing.
Then again, asking questions and critically examining situations is inconvenient. Fake moral outrage seems the easier route.
