Amazon CEO won praise from some of his harshest critics on Tuesday after announcing he was increasing the minimum wage for workers to $15.
Among those who lauded the decision was Bernie Sanders who said he hoped, like Bezos, it would be imitated by other companies and spark change across different industries.
‘I want to give credit where credit is due,’ Sanders said at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
‘It is no secret that I have been a harsh critic of the wage and employment practices of Amazon and its owner Jeff Bezos.
Bernie Sanders, who has been complaining about Amazon wages for months, led praise of Bezos on Tuesday
Today, I want to give credit where credit is due. And I want to congratulate Mr. Bezos for doing exactly the right thing.’
In a tweet later, he said: ‘What Mr. Bezos has done today is not only enormously important for Amazon’s hundreds of thousands of employees, it could well be a shot heard around the world.
‘I urge corporate leaders around the country to follow Mr. Bezos’ lead.’
Jeff Bezos, who is worth $164billion, said he had ‘listened to his critics’
Bezos responded on Twitter to thank the Senator for his comments.
‘Thank you. We’re excited about this, and also hope others will join in,’ he replied.
Sanders had been complaining for months about the disparity between Bezos’ staggering, $164billion personal wealth and the fact that some of his warehouse workers were homeless and living in poor conditions.
Larry Kudlow, the Director of the National Economic Council, also described it as a ‘good thing’.
He said outside the White House when asked for his opinion: ‘Good for them. I’m in favor of higher wages.
‘It’s a business decision, he’s a pretty good business man. He’s a smart guy. Higher wages, terrific.
‘By the way more people working and prospering is not inflationary,it’s not a bad thing it’s a good thing.’
President Trump, one of Bezos’ harshest critics, is yet to comment on the news.
Until now, minimum wages across its US warehouses ranges per state from around $10-an-hour in Texas to $13.50 in parts of New Jersey and California.
Larry Kudlow, the Director of the National Economic Council, also described it as a ‘good thing’ outside the White House on Tuesday (pictured)
The new standardized minimum wage will benefit 350,000 people including the 250,000 it already has on its payroll and an additional 100,000 who will be hired for seasonal work.
The new wages will go into effect on November 1 and will also apply to Whole Foods workers.
Amazon’s hourly operations and customer service employees, some who already make $15 per hour, will also see a wage increase and minimum wages will also be raised in some of its overseas operations.
In Britain, it will be £10.50 an hour in London and £9.50 in other parts of the country. Until now, it had been £8 an hour. It will benefit their 17,000 workers and additional seasonal workers.
While the minimum wage increase heralds a boost of up to 36 percent for some workers, the company quietly included in the announcement that it was phasing out its Restricted Stock Unit program which allowed workers to unlock stocks over time.
It served as a rare opportunity for them to invest in the seemingly unstoppable company which became the second publicly traded one to cross the $1trillion threshold in September.
As part of the new plan, they will be given a ‘stock purchase plan’ by the end of 2019.
An Amazon spokesman declined to give further details of the plan, specifically whether or not it will incur interest, when contacted by DailyMail.com.
Now, workers who had been waiting for their 2020 or 2021 stocks to be unlocked will have to buy them.
‘We’ve heard from our hourly fulfillment and customer service employees that they prefer the predictability and immediacy of cash to RSUs.
‘We will be phasing out the RSU grant program for stock which would vest in 2020 and 2021 for this group of employees, replacing it with a direct stock purchase plan before the end of 2019,’ it said.
In a statement on Tuesday, CEO Jeff Bezos said: ‘We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead.
‘We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.’
The announcement did little to affect share prices in pre-market trading.
As of 7.30am, they were down by less than 1 per cent to $1,993.
There are already 250,000 people in the US working in Amazon’s warehouses and in Whole Foods. Another 100,000 will be hired for seasonal work and all of them will enjoy the new minimum wage. Pictured, an Amazon fulfillment center
The company has come under fire in the past for conditions in some of its warehouses across the country.
In a scathing expose earlier this year, some spoke anonymously to reveal that they often resorted to urinating in trash cans because they were too scared to take time to go to the bathroom in case they missed their packing targets.
An undercover journalist who worked in one of the warehouses in 2016 reported others urinating in bottles for the same reason.
He described it like a ‘prison’ and said employees timed workers’ bathroom breaks in the warehouse he worked in in Britain.
By contrast, jobs in its corporate sphere boast some of the sought-after perks Silicon Valley is known for.
The average salary of an Amazon employee is $100,000 and benefits include stocks and generous 20-week parental leave.
The company has more than 575,000 employees globally.
Other retailers have vowed to hit similar milestones. Target announced earlier this year that it would increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour by the end of 2020.
The company raised its minimum wage to $11 earlier this year. Walmart’s is also $11.