Amazon clapped back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday — blasting the Democratic congresswoman in a tweet — for comments she made about the company’s workers being paid “starvation wages.”
“@AOC is just wrong,” Amazon tweeted, using its @AmazonNews account.
“Amazon is a leader on pay at $15 min wage + full benefits from day one,” the company said. “We also lobby to raise federal min wage.”
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos possibly losing his status as a billionaire under a “true progressive program” when she drew the ire of company officials.
“[Bezos] being a billionaire is predicated on paying people starvation wages and stripping them of their ability to access health care,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that she didn’t care “whether Jeff Bezos is a billionaire or not.”
“And also, if his ability to be a billionaire is predicated on the fact that his workers are taking food stamps,” the lawmaker said.
Jay Carney, Amazon’s senior vice president of global corporate affairs — and former press secretary to President Barack Obama — joined his company in condemning the comments on Monday in a tweet of his own.
“More than 42% of all working Americans earn less than the $15/hour Amazon pays entry-level fulfillment center employees,” Carney said. “And all our employees get top-tier benefits. I’d urge @AOC to focus on raising the federal minimum wage instead of making stuff up about Amazon.”
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter hours later to respond.
“If a person is working 40h/week & is paid so little that they need gov help to make ends meet, it’s not the person that’s a weight on our system – it’s the company,” she said. “People need to be paid a living wage. We stand up to co’s that rely on food stamps to make up for their low wages.”
Responding to Amazon’s claims about being minimum wage leader since “day one,” Ocasio-Cortez said: “From ‘day one?’ Really? 1 in 10 of Amazon’s Ohio employees were on food stamps after the company opened fulfillment centers in the state. Paying full-time employees so little that they require gov food assistance is what paying starvation wages means.”
The congresswoman had remained quiet all day on the issue, but her spokesperson, Corbin Trent, did offer a statement to ABC News — criticizing Amazon.
“Amazon built a nearly trillion-dollar company on the backs of the American people,” the statement said. “They have a business model that relies on the American taxpayer. Amazon has made billions using our roads, bridges, postal service, airports, and internet – all built with the tax dollars of hardworking Americans. You would think a company that relies so heavily on taxpayer innovations would be more willing to contribute to our society, but you’d be wrong. Amazon pays zero federal income tax, has extorted our cities and states for tax breaks and their employees often rely on government subsidies to get by. It is time for Amazon to do right by their employees. It is time for Amazon to do right by the American people.”
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