Senator Bernie Sanders’ anti-corporate welfare bill aims to hammer the companies that pay their workers so poorly they need government aid to survive. Corporate media outlets are gunning for Sanders in response.
The Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (Stop BEZOS) would impose a tax on companies equal to the amount of money their employees receive from federal welfare programs such as food stamps or Medicaid. It would apply to both full- and part-time employees as well as independent contractors.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) co-wrote the bill with Sanders (I-Vermont). While more symbolic than workable, it “speaks to the injustice people perceive - that the market isn’t properly rewarding work,” Khanna said.
This bill isn’t perfect. No legislation is. But it speaks to the injustice people perceive —that the market isn’t properly rewarding work. The bill can be further tweaked so corporations pay a decent wage & instead of just compensating those with fancy titles or degrees.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 7, 2018
The proposed bill would target companies with 500 or more employees, including some of America’s largest corporations such as Amazon, Apple and Walmart. Its name is a pointed jab at Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man. Bezos is worth $160 billion, and earns the median salary of an Amazon worker - $28,000 - every nine seconds.
Workers in Amazon’s UK distribution facilities are often so overworked that they are reportedly forced to urinate in bottles to make their quotas. In the US, a large number of them earn such a pittance that they rely on food stamps to make ends meet, and Medicaid to take care of their healthcare needs. In Arizona, one in three Amazon workers is on food stamps.
Amid the negative publicity, Amazon has resorted to paying employees to tweet nice things about the company. The tweets praise working conditions at warehouses while repeating the mantra of “safety is the priority and we just want to get your packages out on time.”
Working conditions at my JAX2 FC are great. Temp controlled warehouse, safety is the priority and we just want to get your packages out on time.
— Leo - Amazon FC Ambassador