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Amazon is once again in the sights of Senator Elizabeth Warren, this time for her decision to reduce medical benefits for part-time employees of Whole Foods, the company's grocery chain.
Warren tweeted his criticism of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and said this decision was why "we need #MedicareForAll". Amazon did not respond to GeekWire's request to comment by publication.
Jeff Bezos is committed to providing his employees with "significant benefits" long before Whole Foods deletes the health care benefits for hundreds of employees.
That's exactly why we need #MedicareForAll. https://t.co/sa5MMD7wuf
– Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 14, 2019
On Friday, Amazon confirmed its intention to reduce the medical benefits of Whole Foods employees working less than 20 hours a week for Business Insider. The decision will affect approximately 2% of the total staff of Whole Foods.
Warren tweeted a link to a separate Business Insider opinion piece accusing Bezos of hypocrisy because he was committed to investing in employees a few weeks before reducing the medical benefits of part-time workers at Whole Foods.
Bezos was one of 100 executives to sign the commitment to redefine "the purpose of a company", which is to go beyond simply achieving shareholder benefits. The commitment, initiated by the highly influential Business Roundtable, is committed to also taking into account employees, customers and other stakeholders.
In a subsequent tweet, Warren reiterated his commitment to dismantle major technology companies and adapt American antitrust law to contain them.
This is another reason why we must #BreakUpBigTech. Amazon's anti-competitive merger with Whole Foods is not only damaging for consumers, but also for employees. https://t.co/xm19NnWn6Z
– Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) September 14, 2019
The proposal is part of Warren's candidacy for the presidency in 2020. She has become one of the most severe critics of technology as she competes with other Democrats for the White House. But she is not alone. Senator Bernie Sanders, a presidential candidate, has long criticized Amazon's treatment of workers.
Last year, Sanders introduced the "STOP BEZOS Act", which would have required Amazon to cover the costs of government programs that its low-income workers receive. The bill has never advanced but Amazon has changed its policies.
A month later, Amazon raised its internal minimum wage for all employees to $ 15 an hour. The company also plans to spend $ 700 million on worker retraining programs to teach employees whose jobs could be automated skills in high-demand fields, such as data science and business analysis.
Despite these changes, Amazon continued to anger the Democrats in Washington D.C. On Friday, three US senators sent a letter to Bezos asking for answers on the network of third party subcontractors that the company uses following criticism of the program.
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