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The company's recent promise to pay all employees at least $ 15 per hour does not apply to contractors who provide it with bathroom cleaners, landscapers and window cleaners. It will also not cover the thousands of jobs in food services and retail expected due to Amazon's new outposts.
"It's an incredibly biased deal," says Tanya Goldman, senior policy analyst at the Washington DC-based think-tank Center for Law and Social Policy, which focuses on poverty reduction. "There are people who will receive $ 150,000 a year, but we will exacerbate racial disparities and economic inequality.The instinct that all these jobs will not be good jobs will be correct."
Amazon's experience in Seattle may tell us what to expect in New York and Virginia, but it has also been heavily influenced by the city's role as a pioneer in the US in recovery. wage floor and labor standards.
The company said its presence in the city, where 45,000 people are currently working on its original campus, has generated 53,000 additional jobs by the end of 2017. between them is under construction, followed by retail, hospitality and health care. They have increased revenue for non-Amazon employees by about $ 17 billion and are encouraging their contractors to pay at least $ 15 an hour.
In addition, Seattle offers a favorable environment for unionization. Most large companies now outsource construction services, such as landscaping and security, which means that these workers do not enjoy the benefits offered to white-collar employees of the company. But in Seattle, many of these entrepreneurs are unionized – including the janitors of Amazon, whose contract guarantees coverage of family health care and other protections.
"No matter the company in your hometown, you must continue to lobby for the minimum wage and the right to unionize," said city councilor Teresa Mosqueda.
So, what does this mean for new homes in the Amazon?
"I find it outrageous that our minimum wage workforce can cross the border and earn twice as much," said Katie Cristol, Chair of Arlington County Council. It is also a tax problem: low wages require the government to take over. "As a community, we really struggled to fund enough safety net for people who work incredibly hard."
"They could put workplace protections in place," says Roshan Abraham, a board member of Our Revolution Arlington. "Unionization is one of them, even if they had just done it in Virginia at first, it would be a good signal for us."
The Arlington County Council still has to vote on the $ 23 million grant it's offered to Amazon, but that's not much of a leverage, and the county has shown no willingness to hold what he considers otherwise to be a very good deal for the region by imposing other requirements on Amazon.
"The fact that the state generates about $ 3.2 billion in revenue once the incentives are paid is a hard argument to dismiss for the consideration of these incentives," said Senator Adam Ebbin, representative of Arlington neighborhoods that Amazon plans to occupy, as well as Alexandria to the south. "What I have to weigh is that the state package includes significant amounts for transportation in our district, which should help us in general. And that is a great thing. "
Rather than meeting the requirements, local officials rely on pure supply and demand to support good jobs. Stephanie Landrum, president of the Alexandria Partnership for Economic Development, said that creating an environment that allows businesses to earn more money should be passed on to employees, especially in a region. where unemployment is already low.
"If you work in a restaurant and there's only a quarter of a shift because there's not enough demand, if a company sends customers you can have more shifts, "says Landrum. "All the extra activities should increase workers' wages."
For some opposition groups, the concern over Amazon's arrival stems more from fears that even slightly higher wages are failing to cope with the rising cost of labor. housing fueled by astronomical technology salaries – as well as a more comprehensive objection to Amazon's trade. practices.
"Their model relies entirely on the exploitation and destruction of small businesses," said Renata Pumarol, deputy director of New York Communities for Change, which is part of a coalition of unions and community groups. 39, organizing against the subsidies granted to Amazon. "In a city that is already facing the worst accessibility crisis we've ever seen, what a company like this would do in New York would be absolutely devastating."
According to Pumarol, the best way to help Amazon would be to employ graduates from New York City University, which serves working class students in the city, rather than importing technicians into the city. schools of the Ivy League.
"We are just not ready to say what we need from Amazon," she says. "We are simply saying no to grants and no to Amazon coming to New York."
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