Amazon raises minimum wage to $15 an hour for all employees

Amazon is raising the minimum wage for all of its workers to $15 an hour next month, the company announced Tuesday morning. Amazon executives also said that they would push for a raise of the federal minimum wage.

The raise is going to benefit more than 250,000 full-time and part-time Amazon employees as well as 100,000 seasonal employees the company is planning to hire for the upcoming holiday season.

Workers hired by temp agencies on behalf of Amazon will also be included, as will anyone working for any of Amazon’s subsidiaries, such as Whole Foods. The company also said that workers who already make $15 or more per hour may see additional pay raises.

“We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us.” Amazon had been under pressure for some time over both pay and working conditions at its fulfillment centers and its delivery operations. The company was singled out by Senator Bernie Sanders last month, with Sanders proposing a bill that would have forced Amazon to repay any government assistance taken by Amazon workers to make up for sub par wages.

Sanders thanked Bezos on Twitter Tuesday morning, and called on other companies to follow suit.

(AP) In this file photo, Jamie Rubinstein, (left), first in a line of applicants, talks with Amazon worker Vanessa Chandler as he begins the recruitment process at a job fair at an Amazon fulfillment center in Kent, Wash. Amazon is boosting its minimum wage for all US workers to $15 per hour starting next month.