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This week, Amazon announced that it would raise the minimum wage of 350,000 workers – but some employees have mixed feelings.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This week, Amazon has announced a minimum wage increase for more than 350,000 workers. Starting November 1st, the salary will start at $ 15 at the hour. It's a bold move for the country's second largest private employer. But, as the news sets in, some Amazon employees have begun to consider the other side of the equation – the loss of monthly bonuses and some equity benefits. We decided to check with some Amazonian workers from all over the country to find out their opinion.
EMILY BYERS: I'm calling Emily Byers (ph). I am 43 years old. I work in Jeffersonville, Indiana, at Amazon. So, everyday, I will work on a computer and I will ensure that our bins match physically and virtually. So, I've been in this execution center since it opened about six years ago, and I'm doing it at 2:40 pm. But after the salary increase comes into effect, I will earn about 16 years. And I have a son traveling, and for me, that means more sports equipment, more opportunities to go to tournaments – that sort of thing. So for me and my family, I would rather have the money on my paycheck now rather than wait two years for my shares to be earned.
UNIDENTIFIED: I do not want to give my name, but I am a packer at a distribution center on the West Coast, and I have been doing it for about a year. I earn 13.75 per hour and 15.05 per hour. Our main concern is that we receive a monthly bonus and that when the holiday season comes, this bonus is essentially double, and we are afraid of not receiving our payment and earning less.
FAUSTO MARTINEZ: I'm calling Fausto Martinez (ph). I have been working for Amazon for three weeks. I work in the distribution center in Miami. I start working as (unintelligible). It is a process in the business that involves receiving the goods and putting them in inventory. I start earning $ 11 an hour, and now, with the increase, we will earn $ 15 an hour after November 1st. I am very excited, very happy because as a supplier, I can now give my family a better quality of life. In addition, I can spend more time with my family because I do not have to look for a second full time job. It will change my life.
MARTIN: So we wanted to know more about it, so we called Alina Selyukh from NPR for more information about this. Alina, welcome. Thank you very much for joining us.
ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: Thank you.
MARTIN: So, tell us a little bit about how this $ 15 hour wage works. And which Amazon employees are affected?
SELYUKH: Amazon says that about 250,000 of its full-time, temporary and seasonal workers, who work by the hour, will receive this increase at $ 15 at the time. In addition, they expect to hire another 100,000 employees for the holiday season, and these people will also start at $ 15 / hour. Most of the employees we are talking about are warehouse workers.
MARTIN: So I want to touch on some of the points raised by the workers with whom we spoke. You have heard that some were very excited about this, but others were concerned about their bonuses, especially during the holiday season. Now you have talked with Amazon frames. What does the company say about increasing wages in the best conditions?
SELYUKH: Okay. So there were some reports and a number of anonymous employees who came forward and said: we are really unhappy with the loss, especially the monthly premiums. And the stock options are a bit more complicated. Previously, some employees were acquired at the company and they received this huge and huge increase in stocks two years later. Two years is a long time for someone who works in a warehouse. So, society – on this front, the company said just about the majority of our workers told us that they would rather get the money now rather than waiting two years for these stock options.
As for monthly bonuses, it's a bit more complicated. The response of society has been quite categorical. They say that this minimum wage of $ 15 should not allow you to earn less money than before.
MARTIN: So I think some of the confusion might come from the fact that this salary increase and the other pay changes were announced very suddenly. Many employees did not know that it was going to happen. An idea why? Why did they announce it so suddenly and why now?
SELYUKH: Amazon is somehow known to have made some very big ads out of the blue. They keep a lot of really important things near the waistcoat at the top of society. The Amazon executives with whom I spoke told me that this conversation at the highest level had been going on for some time and they just decided that nothing was worth waiting for. They could just as well be satisfied with that.
But we must not forget that Amazon has been under pressure for long enough to show that they treat their workers well. There has been a series of stories highlighting some of the most questionable activities in specific warehouses across the country and abroad. Amazon received this criticism when the company released its median income figure. The median income was $ 28,446. It's just above the poverty line for a family of four.
Now it's a global number, that's what the company is going to emphasize. That said, it is the second most valuable company. It is run by the richest man in the world. The contrast put a lot of pressure on Amazon to do something.
MARTIN: OK. Before closing, part of Amazon's announcement also indicated that the company was planning to lobby for a higher federal minimum wage. And I ask you to speculate, but do you think that will have an impact beyond Amazon itself?
SELYUKH: I think it was one of the most important parts of their announcement. It is very rare for a company – especially for Amazon – to adopt a very political attitude. And, in this particular case, I mean, we're talking about – the federal minimum wage is currently $ 7.25. This is an extremely small amount. So it's kind of an interesting thing for Amazon to take a political stance.
Now you can see it in a skeptical, critical way. Some people say, you know, Amazon would have applied this minimum wage of $ 15 anyway. We are in an extremely tight labor market. So you can see a scenario in which other retailers are realizing that they must also compete with Amazon on this payday.
MARTIN: It is the NPR business correspondent, Alina Selyukh. And let me emphasize again that Amazon is a sponsor of NPR.
Alina, thank you very much for talking with us.
SELYUKH: Thank you.
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