Bernie Sanders continues to be dissatisfied with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos over the retailing giant’s use of aggressive anti-union tactics to prevent workers from organising at US facilities.
Bezos declined to attend the Senate Budget Committee hearing on income inequality. Sanders, the committee’s chairman, personally invited the billionaire founder.
The national spotlight has been on thousands of Amazon warehouse workers attempting to form a union in Bessemer, Alabama, a Birmingham suburb.
President Joe Biden and Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, among others, have publicly stated their support for the Alabama workers’ unionisation plan.
Sanders “All I want to know is why the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, is spending millions trying to prevent workers from organizing a union so they can negotiate for better wages, benefits and working conditions.”
Sanders drew attention to the disparity between Bezos’ wealth growth during the pandemic and the struggles of ordinary workers.
“Jeff Bezos has become $77 billion richer during this horrific pandemic, while denying paid sick leave to hundreds of thousands of Amazon employees,” he said.
