This is an interesting development. No matter how you cut it, its becoming increasingly important that Corporations become good citizens. How do we define a Good Corporate Citizen? That in my opinion is still very fluid and will define corporate behaviour going forward. For now unfortunately for Amazon this will be defined by the court of public opinion and although the jury is still not in things are not looking very good for Amazon. *Ali Hussein* *Principal* *AHK & Associates* Tel: +254 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> 13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing, Chiromo Road, Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya. Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with. On Fri, Sep 7, 2018 at 10:36 PM WANGARI KABIRU via kictanet < kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/05/bernie-sanders-introduces-the-bezos-act-slam...
"Sen. Bernie Sanders' criticism of Amazon <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/29/amazon-bernie-sanders-claims-are-inaccurate-and-misleading.html> peaked Wednesday as he and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced legislation <https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/stop-bezos-act-2018?id=C2E88AC5-C629-4680-8F8D-9EE74F343560&download=1&inline=file> to tax corporations for every dollar that their low-wage workers receive in government health-care benefits or food stamps.
The bill, pointedly called the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies, or BEZOS, Act, is aimed at shaming companies like Amazon <https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=AMZN>and Walmart <https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=WMT>, whose workers rely on public assistance.
For months, Sanders has targeted Amazon, juxtaposing the wealth of CEO Jeff Bezos with reports <https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/get-billionaires-off-welfare-remarks?inline=file> that Amazon warehouse workers are paid less than industry averages and rely on food stamps.
Bezos is the richest man in the world, with a net worth of more than $168 billion <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/04/heres-what-it-will-take-for-bezos-to-become-the-first-trillionaire.html> .
"Our legislation gives large, profitable employers a choice: Pay workers a living wage or pay for the public assistance programs their low-wage employees are forced to depend upon," Sanders said of the proposed law. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttT5zXq3DgI>
For example, if an Amazon worker received $2,000 in food stamps, Amazon would be taxed $2,000 to cover that cost.
Amazon has previously called the Vermont independent's claims about working conditions in its fulfillment centers "inaccurate and misleading <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/29/amazon-bernie-sanders-claims-are-inaccurate-and-misleading.html>" and a spokesperson declined to further comment on the bill."
Be blessed.
Regards/Wangari
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Twitter: http://twitter.com/kictanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KICTANet/ Domain Registration sponsored by www.eacdirectory.co.ke
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/info%40alyhussein.com
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.