Image source: Dallas Morning News
Amid the union wave, Amazon took a drastic step to raise the average wages of warehouse workers and delivery drivers.
On Wednesday, Amazon announced it was raising the average starting salary to over $19 an hour.
Previously, it was $18 when industrial action took place at multiple facilities.
The pay raise
Amazon’s first pay raise will take effect next month.
The company’s frontline workers in the United States earn between $16 and $26 an hour.
However, the company said the salary depends on the worker’s position and location in the country.
According to Amazon, the company is investing nearly $1 billion in salary increases and other benefits.
The announcement comes just before the holiday season, one of the busiest for the e-commerce giant.
They also made the decision as rising inflation continues to erode Amecan’s take home pay.
Amazon’s pay rise also comes after the company faced unionization of workers at several warehouses.
Warehouses have been the source of worker frustration with running the business during the pandemic.
Along with treatment, there has also been increased national attention to racial justice and justice.
The labor union
In early 2022, workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, made history by voting to form Amazon’s first U.S. union.
Meanwhile, another union election is due to take place at an Amazon factory near Albany, New York, next month.
Workers at this facility hope to join the Amazon Labor Union, the same rank-and-file group of workers that has thrived on Staten Island.
Thanks to organizing efforts, Amazon workers are demanding higher wages, improved operating conditions, job security, and more say in the workplace.
Additional programs
On Wednesday, Amazon’s announcement didn’t just cover the wage increase.
The company also announced that it is expanding Anytime Pay, its pay access program, to all employees in the United States.
The program gives Amazon employees access to over 70% of their eligible earned salary.
Employees can use the program at any time during the month without any fees.
In the past, Amazon employees only received pay once or twice a month.
Reference:
Amazon raising hourly pay for warehouse and delivery workers
