Jeff Bezos is now the richest person in modern history https://t.co/bNhWM7VDXn #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/6nmySpt1WI
— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) July 16, 2018
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Jeff Bezos, aka the founder of Amazon, reached new heights on Monday when his net worth broke $150 billion, which is a number I can’t even begin to wrap my head around, frankly. This tweet from Mike Rosenberg helped, however:
https://twitter.com/ByRosenberg/status/1018909458527744000
I can’t relate to being able to do that and not doing it, and treating your employees terribly on top of that.
Bill Gates would’ve been just as rich as Bezos, except he’s given away a lot of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation, which is the least a billionaire can do, and Bezos isn’t even doing that.
Billionaire Warren Buffett donates $3.4 billion, the largest contribution in his longstanding plan to give away his fortune https://t.co/sN1ie5V0d0 $BRKa pic.twitter.com/gKVPskBDip
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 17, 2018
On the same day as Bezos made history by accumulating the most amount of money, Amazon employees across Europe were wrapping up a week-long strike ahead of Amazon’s ‘Prime Day’. Striking employees hoped to impact Amazon’s bottom line by encouraging worldwide boycotts of Prime Day, which is an annual 36-hour sale.
Workers in Italy, England, France, Germany, Spain and Poland have called for a boycott, and have long criticised tough working conditions in Amazon’s warehouses. Concerns include long working hours, difficult working conditions, and high-pressure ‘rush’ periods around days like Prime Day and Black Friday in the US.
#AmazonStrike begins today but workers are calling for a boycott through #PrimeDay on July 16th.
Amazon workers experience exhaustion, dehydration and injuries at the workplace.
Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world. His workers deserve better! #UnionStrong #PrimeDay2018 pic.twitter.com/WmSQaJTkNv
— Bonnie Castillo (@NNUBonnie) July 12, 2018
This was the first year that Prime Day included Australia, following Amazon’s launching of Prime in the Australian market last month. According to a report from the SMH, however, consumer response to the sale was muted – probably due to a general lack of awareness of the event rather than a widespread support for Amazon’s beleaguered employees, but still.
It’s been relatively easy for me to boycott Amazon since they aren’t nearly as big in Australia as they are in the US. As a book lover, the ubiquity of Book Depository (an online bookstore owned by Amazon) and the threat it poses to local physical and online book retailers worries me, and if given the choice, I’d much rather shop locally.
Pictured: Jeff Bezos
I understand the appeal of the convenience of Amazon, between the low prices and the availability of every possible product you could ever want or need, but is it worth it if that convenience comes at the expense of an underpaid warehouse employee who’s been on their feet for ten hours straight?