No, it's not a joke, the richest man in the world Jeff Bezos, the owner of the wealthiest company in the world, is asking the world to put money in a special fund, Amazon Relief Fund, for "relief from the coronavirus" so that Amazon can meet its financial obligations.
More specifically, Jeff Bezos announced the creation of a relief fund to provide the community money to the company's contract employees, especially to delivery workers, who are currently facing a huge workload.
Earlier on March Jeff Bezos, who himself is a centibillionaire, announced that; "We are establishing the Amazon Relief Fund with a $25 million initial contribution focused on supporting our independent delivery service partners and their drivers, Amazon Flex participants, and seasonal employees under financial distress during this challenging time."
I can’t even process this…
— Stacy Mitchell (@stacyfmitchell) March 20, 2020
Amazon — you know, the one run by the richest man, the one whose sales have shot up during a pandemic — is doing an online fundraiser. Asking all of us to donate to support its warehouse temps & flex drivers hit by Covid.
https://t.co/QWd851eXBk
The Amazon Relief Fund was set up with $ 25 million from the company itself to help "employees and partners," especially those responsible for delivering all products that continue to be ordered across the United States. In addition to contributing $ 25 million to the fund, the company is also urging the public to donate if they consider it important. The backlash prompted the company to modify the original text, urging consumers to contribute to the fund.
Amazon set up a relief fund for its employees and is asking us to donate.
— Rob Hart (@robwhart) March 21, 2020
Amazon is worth nearly $1 trillion.
Amazon paid a negative federal income tax rate in 2018. They paid nothing but got millions in government subsidies.
How is this real. https://t.co/MiLArAnTdA
It should be mentioned here that, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bezos' fortune now exceeds 167 billion dollars.
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon announced it was giving two weeks of sick leave to "all Amazon employees diagnosed with COVID-19 or placed into quarantine." Kroger had a similar policy until Saturday when Kroger extended its policy to apply also for employees with COVID-19 symptoms or who need to care for sick family members. Amazon, however, has stood its ground.
The large contract workforce of Amazon, which delivers packages and performs other critical tasks, is in even worse condition. The company isn't providing any sick leave for these workers, even if they test positive for coronavirus. Instead, they will need to apply to the above-mentioned fund and ask for a grand to cover their sick leave.
Amazon announced on Saturday, March 15th, that it is doubling pay for hourly wage workers in the US delivery network for every hour they work more than 40 a week, from March 15 to May 9. Also announced temporary increases of 2 dollars per hour that will be valid until April! Combined with minimal paid sick leave, incentivizes Amazon workers to show up sick.
As the majority of companies and the US economy are facing a downturn due to COVID-19 pandemic and the enforced lockdown, Amazon announced that it's going to hire another 100,000 employees to meet the surging demands.
An Amazon spokesperson commented, "We are not and have not asked for donations, and Amazon has funded the Amazon Relief Fund with an initial donation of $25 million. The structure to operate a fund like this, which hundreds of companies do through the same third-party, requires the program to be open to public contributions, but we are not soliciting those contributions in any way", in accordance with The Independent.
For those who want to help Amazon's employees, affected by COVID-19, Amazonians United New York City, a grassroots group of Amazon warehouse employees, has started a GoFundMe page to support these workers. That fund has nothing to do with "Amazon Relief Fund".
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