Jay Carney is facing a torrent of criticism from the Left after he defended Amazon’s treatment of workers in Alabama.
Carney, former President Barack Obama’s White House press secretary, now works as the senior vice president of global corporate affairs at the company. He sparked backlash for responding to a tweet by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who has been championing a unionization drive at the company’s Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center.
“With all due respect, Senator [Sanders], you’re wrong on this. We treat our employees with dignity and respect. We offer a $15 min wage, health care from day one, and a safe, inclusive workplace,” Carney said.
“Once again, we invite you to take a tour so you can see for yourself,” he continued. “And since there are 40m Americans earning less than Amazon’s starting wage, we ask you and your colleagues to please raise the federal minimum to $15 as well.”
VOTE CLOSES IN AMAZON UNIONIZATION DRIVE WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR AMAZON WORKERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
The tweet was in response to one that Sanders had posted expressing his support for the unionization effort and said the workers in Bessemer are “sick and tired of being treated like robots.”
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who, like Sanders, is a major supporter of labor unions, shot back at Carney just hours after his tweet.
“A loved one of mine worked Amazon delivery last year & left because that’s how dangerous it felt to them working for a company that also puts so much performance pressure on their workers that defecating in bags is a common enough occurrence that there are internal memos about it,” the liberal firebrand retorted.
A loved one of mine worked Amazon delivery last year & left because that’s how dangerous it felt to them working for a company that also puts so much performance pressure on their workers that defecating in bags is a common enough occurrence that there are internal memos about it https://t.co/SPE21kIFDY
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 30, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez was likely referencing a internal company email obtained by the Intercept that shows an Amazon logistics area manager imploring employees not to defecate into bags.
“This evening, an associate discovered human feces in an Amazon bag that was returned to station by a driver,” the email read. “This is the 3rd occasion in the last 2 months when bags have been returned to station with poop inside. We understand that DA’s [driver associates] may have emergencies while on-road, and especially during Covid, DAs have struggled to find bathrooms while delivering.”
The email was released last week amid swirling accusations that Amazon delivery drivers are so overworked that some have had to urinate into water bottles to save time while on the job.
The Gravel Institute, a liberal think tank named after former Democratic Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska, also took aim at Carney’s tweet. It responded, “Any comment on the hard documentary evidence showing your company is aware that your exploitative policies have caused workers to resort to peeing in bottles on the job?”
Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California asserted to Carney on Twitter that Obama “would stand with the workers in a heartbeat!”
Actor and comedian David Cross, who once described his political views as “definitely more socialist Democrat” than politicians such as Hillary Clinton, also got in on the social media pile-on.
“So…they’re *not* standing up and fighting back? He’s not proud to support them? They’re not tired of the dehumanization they’re feeling regardless of which warehouse and which state they work in? How’s he wrong exactly,” Cross wondered.
Carney was the White House press secretary in the Obama administration from February 2011 to June 2014. The former president’s relationship with labor unions was regarded as mixed, with Obama expressing support for them but also trying to take a middle tack between union interests and Wall Street. As press secretary, Carney dodged questions about the then-president’s support for a 2012 Chicago teachers strike. Carney first began his work with Amazon in 2015.
On Monday, a vote on whether to unionize closed for workers at the nearly 6,000-employee facility in Bessemer. Workers there have been voting on representation by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union for the past seven weeks.
The matter has gained outsize attention amid Amazon fears that if the warehouse decides to unionize, it could generate a ripple effect, and more company facilities might decide to push for unionization. According to the RWDSU, more than 1,000 Amazon employees across the country have contacted the union in response to the pivotal vote.
The matter drew further attention when Sanders invited Bessemer warehouse employee Jennifer Bates to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. He has also invited Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to testify, although Bezos declined the offer. Bates told lawmakers that Bessemer employees suffer poor working conditions and testified that the company has been actively pushing employees to vote against unionization.
Support for the Bessemer workers isn’t coming entirely from the Left. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has also sided with them, bashing the “woke ideology” of the company. He also told the Washington Examiner that Amazon hurts small businesses through anti-competitive strategies.
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It could take weeks to determine the end result of the push, as the ballots are being counted by hand at the National Labor Relations Board’s office in Birmingham, Alabama. Both sides in the labor battle are permitted to challenge any of the ballots cast about whether the worker who cast it is legitimate or if it was properly signed. After the results are finalized, Amazon and the union can also challenge the vote in court or through the National Labor Relations Board.
