Amazon on Wednesday announced a pay rise, between 50 cents and three dollars an hour, for nearly half a million of its employees, mainly in its receiving and sending teams.
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The increase, which will be applied between May and June, comes ahead of a federal hearing on the failure to create a union within the e-commerce giant and after being singled out by the US president. , Joe Biden, for his tax optimization practices. Amazon has largely benefited from the economic consequences of the current pandemic, hiring 500,000 people in 2020, for a total workforce of now 1.3 million employees worldwide.
Generally, the group reassesses salaries in the fall, before the peak of sales linked to the approach of the end of the year holidays, but this practice has been advanced this year, when it plans to hire "
several dozen. thousands of people
”in the United States, said Vice President of Global Operations Darcie Henry in a statement.
The increase will affect some of the warehouse teams of the online sales giant, with other employees seeing their salaries updated later in the year, the statement said.
Minimum wage of $ 15 since 2018
In 2018, Amazon introduced a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour for all of its American employees and recently joined several other large groups to campaign for a federal minimum wage of the same amount. This minimum wage, as well as other benefits, is part of the arguments put forward by Amazon in order to counter the attempt, ultimately unsuccessful, to create a first union in one of its American warehouses, in Alabama (south), at the start of the year. month.
Political representatives and labor organizations criticize Amazon for keeping its employees under constant pressure and surveillance, with poor job protection, stressing the importance of collective bargaining on these subjects.
After the unsuccessful union attempt at the company, organizers accused Amazon of intimidating its employees before the postal vote and lodged an appeal with the National Labor Relations Office.
Objective, to become the best employer in the world
While defending the treatment of its employees, the founder and CEO of the group, Jeff Bezos, promised a better "
vision
" for the employees. In a letter, he set a new goal for his group, to be "
the best employer and the safest workplace in the world
". Amazon announced the increase the day before the publication of its quarterly results, scheduled for Thursday.
