Amazon raises minimum wage workers the US and UK. Amazon raises the minimum wage for employees in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the US, the minimum wage increases to $ 15 per hour, in the UK to at least £ 9.50 per hour.
The new scheme includes not only people in permanent employment but also part-timers,
temporary employees and another 120,000 seasonal employees, the company announces Tuesday.
In total, over 275,000 people will benefit from the wage increase from November.
“We heard to our critics, spent a long time thinking about what we needed to do and then determined that we wanted to take the lead,” stated CEO Jeff Bezos in a press release.
He calls on opponents and “other major employers” to do the same.
The company also declares that it will lobby the government for an increase of the federal minimum wage in the United States.
That is now $ 7.25 per hour.
The current hourly wage in the US is 11 dollars, according to reports. In the United Kingdom,
Amazon employees over the age of 25 receive 8 pounds per hour.
It is increased to £ 9.50 per hour outside of London and to £ 10.50 when employees work in London.
Reward differences have been under fire for some time
The debate about wage increases has been with Amazon for some time.
According to critics, the pay differentials are too significant.
Bernie Sanders, Senator and former presidential candidate introduced a law in early September, named after the Amazon CEO.
The bill is aimed at employers who pay too little.
The BEZOS Act states that companies must be taxed for every dollar of government support that employees receive low wages.
For example, companies would be encouraged to pay more for their employees.
“Jeff Bezos is worth 119 billion pounds, thousands of Amazon employees have to fall back on food stamps and social housing,” Sanders wrote in an accompanying tweet.
