Amazon is accusing one-time Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders, a longtime critic, of misrepresenting how much the e-commerce giant pays its workers.
Earlier this month, Sanders seized on a report from nonprofit New Food Economy that thousands of Amazon employees rely on the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or SNAP.
“There is something fundamentally wrong when thousands of Amazon workers are on food stamps while their boss, Jeff Bezos, is the richest man in the world,” Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, said in an August tweet.
Amazon, which last quarter made $2.5 billion in profits, says the data, obtained by New Food from state governments, is misleading because it included individuals who only briefly worked at the Seattle-based company or were employed part-time.
“While Sen. Sanders plays politics and makes misleading accusations, we are expending real money and effort up-skilling people,” Amazon said in a blog post on Wednesday. “We encourage anyone to compare our pay and benefits to other retailers.”
The company said Sanders has repeatedly turned down requests to tour one of its order-fulfillment centers.
Sanders, in response, said Amazon should provide information on the wages and benefits for its contract workers.
“If Amazon is so proud of the way it treats its workers, it should make public the number of people it hires through temporary staffing agencies like Integrity Staffing Solutions and make public the hourly rate and benefits those workers earn,” he said in a statement.
The senator plans to introduce legislation that would impose a tax on large employers matching the amount of federal benefits received by its workers, according to a summary from his office. U.S. businesses with 500 employees or more would be impacted by the policy and it would cover employees enrolled in SNAP, the Medicaid program and other federal assistance programs.
“The legislation gives large employers a choice,” according to a summary: “Pay workers a living wage or pay for the public assistance programs low-wage workers are forced to rely upon.”
Sanders’ criticism of Amazon gives him a point in common with the White House. President Trump routinely claims the U.S. Postal Service subsidizes package deliveries for the company and berates the Washington Post, an outlet owned separately by Bezos, for publishing unflattering stories about his administration.
