5th Sep 2018 17:59
WASHINGTON (Alliance)- Companies like USonline retail giant Amazon.com Inc that fail to pay their workers a living wage would be subjected to a tax, according to a legislative proposal by a leading left-wing USlawmaker.
Bernie Sanders, a Democratic senator and former presidential candidate, said Wednesday that workers who earn too little end up on governmental assistance programmes, costing taxpayers USD150 million a year.
"Pay workers a living wage or pay for the public assistance your low-wage workers rely on,"Sanders said.
The senator announced the bill after a lengthy campaign against Amazon and retail giant Walmart Inc.
"Taxpayers should not have to expend huge sums of money subsidizing profitable corporations owned by some of the wealthiest people in the country and the world," he said.
The bill has several supporters in Congress, including Ro Khanna, who represents a district inCalifornia that includes tech companies in Silicon Valley.
"Our nation needs to provide people with basic fairness. If they work hard, they should make enough to take care of their families," Khanna said.
Sanders took aim specifically at Jeff Bezos, the wealthy head of Amazon. The bill is named the "Stop BEZOS Act," or Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act.
The legislation is being proposed a day after online retail giant Amazon hit a USD1 trillion market valuation.
Amazon has pushed back against Sanders, saying its workers are well-looked after and offering testimonials from content employees.