Protest over tax policy, worker treatment greets Bezos in Berlin
Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos faced protests against the company’s tax policy and its treatment of workers when he arrived in Berlin to collect an award Tuesday.
Andrea Nahles, the newly elected leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, joined a demonstration organized by labor union Ver.di outside Axel Springer SE’s headquarters, where Bezos was presented a prize for innovation.
Outside, about 350 protesters blew whistles, banged drums and waved signs that read “make Amazon pay.” Nahles, an outspoken former party rebel, was elected SPD leader on Sunday and is billed as a possible chancellor candidate for the next election in 2021. The German labor union has been pushing for higher pay for Amazon’s thousands of workers in the country for several years, claiming they receive lower wages than workers in other retail jobs.
Bezos treats his employees badly and is among big tech companies that are “world champions in tax avoidance,” Nahles told reporters in Berlin.
“This does not deserve a prize,” she added.
Amazon and its U.S. tech peers like Facebook and Apple are facing growing opposition from policy makers on issues ranging from labor conditions to tax avoidance and data privacy.
President Donald Trump has singled out Amazon for paying too little tax and hurting traditional retailers, while the European Union is considering a new levy on companies such as Google and Facebook that route profits made in the bloc through low-tax countries.
Amazon has changed when criticized before, but on the subject of working conditions, the critics are wrong, Bezos said.
“I’m very proud of our working conditions, and I’m very proud of the wages we pay,” including in Germany, he said, speaking in a fireside chat with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Doepfner.
Germany is Amazon’s second-biggest market behind the U.S., with $17 billion in sales making up nearly 10 percent of 2017 revenue.
In its annual shareholder letter last week, Amazon disclosed the median annual compensation of its employees: $28,446.
Bezos, the richest man in the world, reported a total compensation of $1.68 million last year, the bulk of which went to personal security costs.
When asked a question about whether he was concerned Trump would try to break up Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, Bezos said he expects to be scrutinized.
“The big tech companies have become large enough that they’re going to be inspected,” Bezos said. “It’s fine.”