Today Amazon announced that it would raise the minimum wage for its U.S. employees to $15.00/hour. These wage increases will apply to more than 250,000 Amazon employees, including those working at grocery chain Whole Foods, as well as over 100,000 seasonal employees. The company has come under fire for its working conditions, particularly in its fast-paced fulfillment centers; in recent years, Amazon has faced lawsuits alleging that the company uses contract employees to avoid labor costs and workplace regulations. The wage increases announced today will apply to part-time and contract employees.
Amazon’s announcement comes on the heels of minimum wage hikes throughout the country, including in Seattle. On Monday the Seattle Office of Labor Standards announced that companies employing 500 or more workers worldwide would need to pay their employees at least $16.00/hour. This marks the end of a two-tier system under which employers who contributed toward medical benefits paid a lower minimum wage than those that did not.
According to a new working paper published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, increases in minimum wage reduce criminal recidivism for property and drug crimes. Researchers examined data from over six million released prisoners to identify the effect of higher minimum wages and the availability of state Earned Income Tax Credits on recidivism rates. Their findings implied that by increasing potential legal wages relative to illegal sources of income, higher wages attract released prisoners to the legal labor market more than they reduce employment in that population.
While the cost of employee wage increases is offset by corporate tax cuts, the Wall Street Journal reports that only a fraction of these savings are actually going to employees. A nonprofit tracking companies that have announced spending plans for their corporate tax savings found that while 80% are passing some of those savings onto workers, only 7% of these savings are going to workers in the form of wage increases, bonuses, benefits, training or retirement contributions. Meanwhile, a survey of 152 companies by an executive recruitment firm revealed that just 14% were funneling any part of their tax-cut savings into base salary increases.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.
September 9
Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s lawsuit against employee union; new bill aims to make striking workers eligible for benefits; university lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance at First Amendment claims.
September 8
DC Circuit to rule on deference to NLRB, more vaccine exemption cases, Senate considers ban on forced arbitration for age discrimination claims.