"Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.com, and his wife, MacKenzie, have agreed to donate $2.5 million to help pass a same-sex marriage referendum in Washington State, instantly becoming among the largest financial backers of gay marriage rights in the country." New York Times.
A lot of people seem to have forgotten about this;
"Amazon.co.uk, Britain's biggest online retailer, generated sales of more than £3.3bn in the country last year but paid no corporation tax on any of the profits from that income – and is under investigation by the UK tax authorities..." The Guardian.
So that's about £100million they owe us last year alone - imagine say what the NHS could of done with that.
Is it any wonder the boss can afford to be so generous?
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He's also got so much money cause he pays his workers so little.
ReplyDeleteSunday Times 2008
ReplyDelete"Amazon, Britain's most popular website for Christmas shopping, is making its staff work seven days a week and threatening them with the sack if they take time off sick.
Behind the scenes Amazon, which can expect its busiest day of the year tomorrow, is employing thousands of casual workers in Britain to fetch and package items under arduous conditions. An investigation by The Sunday Times at Amazon's enormous warehouse in Bedfordshire has found that workers were:
- Warned that the company refuses to allow sick leave, even if the worker has a legitimate doctor's note. Taking a day off sick, even with a note, results in a penalty point. A worker with six points faces dismissal.
- Made to work a compulsory 10½hour overnight shift at the end of a five-day week. The overnight shift, which runs from Saturday evening to 5am on Sunday, means they have to work every day of the week.
- Set quotas for the number of items to be picked or packed in an hour that even a manager described as "ridiculous". Those packing heavy Xbox games consoles had to pack 140 an hour to reach their target.
- Set against each other with a bonus scheme that penalises staff if any other member of their group fails to hit the quota.
- Made to walk up to 14 miles a shift to collect items for packing.
Given only one break of 15 minutes and another of 20 minutes per eight-hour shift and told they had to notify staff when going to the toilet. Amazon said workers wanted the shorter breaks in exchange for shorter shifts.
Amazon are corporate bastards!
ReplyDeleteAnybody interested in my wish list?
'what the NHS could of done with that' ?
ReplyDeleteI think you mean 'could HAVE'.
Otherwise, bang on as usual :)
Is "could of" not acceptable?
DeleteOh well...
Thanks.
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