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Amazon Blasts Bernie Sanders As He Heads to Support Union Drive

Consumer Boss of Amazon took a swipe at Se. Bernie Sanders for planning a visit to Alabama. It is where a historic union election is currently in progress at one of the company’s warehouses. CEO of Amazon’s worldwide consumer business, Dave Clark, fired off a series of late Wednesday and Thursday morning tweets. He defended the company’s labor practices and took jabs at Vermont’s independent senator over the debate around raising the federal minimum wage.

On Friday, rapper Killer Mike, Sanders, and actor Danny Glover are set to meet with Bessemer, Alabama’s Amazon workers who will be voting to join the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The RWDSU union hall at Birmingham, Alabama, will host the meeting. On February 8th, the workers started voting by mail, and ballots are due by Monday. The vote counting will begin immediately on the next day.

On Wednesday, Clark wrote in a tweet, “I welcome [Sanders] to Birmingham and appreciate his push for a progressive workplace. I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that’s not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace.” On Thursday, Clark doubled down, arguing that the minimum wage in Sanders’ home state of Vermont s $11.75 an hour. However, the starting pay of Amazon workers is $15 per hour.

RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said that all of Clark’s statements are “arrogant and tone deaf.” He also asked whether Amazon believes that their pay gives them a right to mistreat and dehumanize their employees. The wage he says is below what workers in nearby unionized warehouses receive.

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