Billionaire Jeff Bezos is facing sharp criticism from the left — and from some of his own employees — after Whole Foods announced on Thursday that they would be cutting health benefits for almost 2,000 of their part time employees.
Whole Foods issued a statement Thursday announcing that it would be cutting health benefits for approximately 1,900 of its part time workers. Previously, workers who worked an average of 20 hours a week for the grocery company were eligible for health coverage. The statement explained that workers would henceforth need to work an average of at least 30 hours a week in order to be eligible for health care coverage.
The company’s statement indicated that the vast majority of its 95,000 workers would not be affected by the change.
Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon — which is principally owned by Bezos — in August of 2017.
“The Whole Foods decision is not just hypocritical of Bezos, but also proves why workers should never put too much trust in kind words from CEOs”
Every worker needs a union. #UnionsForAll https://t.co/mfnStuCOuj
— Fight For 15 (@fightfor15) September 14, 2019
Jeff Bezos says he liquidates around a billion dollars a year from Amazon to fund his Moon base ambitions, yet cuts the medical benefits of Whole Foods workers.
The future painted by the movie Elysium grows stronger every day. pic.twitter.com/827LvwbjPY
— Theo (@tprstly) September 14, 2019
The announcement prompted a wave of backlash against Bezos, who is generally considered to be wealthiest man in the world as of the date of the publication of this article. – READ MORE