Walmart and Amazon Are Making Record Profits. Their Workers Are Getting Scraps.
Walmart and Amazon, millions of whose workers and suppliers have struggled to make ends meet amid the pandemic, are flush with cash — and just as virulently anti-union as ever.
Walmart and Amazon have seen record-breaking profits this year, and they’ve given the workers who bore the brunt of the risk and the labor required to produce such sky-high numbers under 10 percent of the loot. (Unsplash)
On December 4, a press release from Walmart arrived in my inbox. “Walmart Announces More Than $15.5 million in Quarterly and Special Cash Bonuses for New York Associates” read the bold-faced text.
The email went on to state that Walmart had announced $700 million in cash bonuses to its US-based “associates.” Then details are as follows: part-time workers will receive $150, while full-timers will get $300.
It’s the same bonus that Amazon announced a week earlier. The two companies are the twin behemoths of the US retail economy: combined, they employ almost three million people. It’s no surprise that they’re doling out identical onetime bonuses to their workers.
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