Amazon responded Monday to a remark by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.– she considers Bezos’s billionaire status is partially thanks to Amazon paying “starvation wages” and accepting “billions of dollars of government subsidies”– stating at a tweet that it pays workers at least $15 per hour plus full benefits.
“AOC is just wrong. Amazon is a leader on pay at $15 min wage + full benefits from day one. We also lobby to raise federal min wage.” Amazon tweeted.
Amazon’s head of communications, Jay Carney, later tweeted that Ocasio-Cortez should change the minimum wage law:” More than 42% of all working Americans earn less than the $15/hour Amazon pays entry-level fulfillment center employees. And all our employees get top-tier benefits. I’d urge @AOC to focus on raising the federal minimum wage instead of making stuff up about Amazon.”
Ocasio-Cortez was among the most outspoken people critics of Amazon’s plan to move its next headquarters into Long Island City, in the borough of Queens, before Amazon pulled out.
” Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.