The Guardian, 2 November 2023:
The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has called on the CEOs of Amazon, Walmart and DoorDash and the US government to address allegations that top US corporations pay such low wages that they trap workers in poverty, forcing them to rely on government-assistance programs to survive.
Olivier De Schutter has written to the three major US corporations and the US government, requesting responses to numerous allegations. They include a 2020 US Government Accountability Office report that found Amazon and Walmart were listed among the top 25 employers with workers relying on the supplemental nutrition assistance program (Snap), formerly known as food stamps, or Medicaid in nine states studied, with Walmart ranked first and Amazon ranked sixth.
The letters and requests were made public on 31 October.
“The concerns apply to many workers in the US, which relates to how the minimum wage is set in legislation, whether at federal or state level, wage theft by employers, unpredictable yet inflexible working schedules, the sake of undocumented workers, violation of union rights, and automation, these are the most important issues that apply across the workforce in the US,” the letter said.