E-Commerce biggie ousted its rival by raising the minimum wages

Chennai: Amazon raised the minimum wages to $15 per hour for its U.S employees on Tuesday.

Coming into effect from November 1, the new wages will apply to more than 250000 amazon employees, including those at the grocery chain Whole Foods, as well as more than 100000 seasonal employees it plans to hire for the holiday season.

However, this change will not apply to the contract workers.

In the face of an administration that doesn’t care about the middle class, this is a bold, impressive step by Amazon. Kudos to Jeff Bezos and the employees fighting for 15. https://t.co/p0RqHPlQch

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 3, 2018

The Seattle based Company had been in news for using contract employees to skirt regulations and cut costs in the U.S and abroad. It was feeling squeezed by political pressures and a tight labor market, thus following the footsteps of Walmart who had boosted its hourly wage to $11, Amazon decided to oust its rivals by increasing its minimum wages in US and Britain.

Bernie Sanders: “What Mr. Bezos has done today is not only enormously important for Amazon’s hundreds of thousands of employees, it could well be – and I think it will be – a shot heard around the world. Mr. Bezos and Amazon are now leading the way.” https://t.co/yCw71WwYO2 pic.twitter.com/T3k4LeIVHN

— The Hill (@thehill) October 3, 2018

The hourly minimum wage in the London area is set to rise to 10.50 pounds and 9.50 pounds in the rest of Britain affecting some 37,000 current and seasonal employees.

The company would also lobby Washington to raise the federal minimum wage, which has been set at $7.25 for almost a decade.

“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead, we’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us,” said Amazon’s Chief executive Jeff Bezos.