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Amazon thinks it won this one

Want some hard data about bloated CEO pay? I've got you.

A generation ago, a CEO made 35 times what one of their frontline employees made. That's a big difference, but let's just keep that number in mind.

Right now? It's about 400 times a frontline worker's pay.

Put that in perspective: that CEO gets paid more in one day than an average worker earns in one year.

A CEO, no matter their skill or experience, isn't worth 400 times one of the employees at their company's foundation.

It's all part of our bloated, top-heavy economy, with millionaires and billionaires hoarding more and more of the power, wealth, and security.

That's why it's time to reinvest in our country's organized labor movement, and in the working Americans who, for generations, have fought for more equitable labor laws.

We just saw a major battle in this struggle down in Alabama, where Amazon pulled out all the stops and spent millions of dollars to squash a union drive at one of its facilities.

Amazon thinks it won this one, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Because I think that, what I see in Alabama's aftermath is an empowered labor movement, ready to fight for the rights of workers no matter who they are or where they live.

Rebuilding our workforce starts with us pressuring companies to do better, with supporting labor organizations as they take on these fights for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. The fights of the past, for a better minimum wage, safety conditions, and even something as simple as weekends all are thanks to our labor movement.

Change doesn't just happen if we want it to. We have to work for it, and to stand arm-in-arm with the Americans who are organizing on the ground right now.

Jim

Posted on April 19, 2021.

Meet Jim

Jim McGovern represents the 2nd District of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has earned a national reputation as a tireless advocate for his district and as a champion for food security, human rights, campaign finance reform, social justice and peace.

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