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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Wednesday, October 3, 2018 Amazon moves ahead of its rivals, raises wages to $15 “We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we want- ed to do, and decid- ed we want to lead” By JOSEPH PISANI Associated Press NEW YORK — Amazon, the business that upended the retailing industry and transformed the way we shop for just about every- thing, is jumping out ahead of the pack again, announc- ing a minimum wage of $15 an hour for its U.S. employ- ees that could force other big companies to raise their pay. The online giant also said it will push Congress to increase the federal minimum wage, now at $7.25. Given Amazon’s size and clout, the move Tues- day is a major victory for the $15-an-hour movement, which has organized pro- tests of fast-food, gas station and other low-paid workers. Already, several states and cities have raised their min- imum wages above the fed- eral one. Amazon, whose value topped an awesome $1 tril- lion in September, has been under political and economic pressure to pay its employees more. “We listened to our crit- ics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. But Amazon may also be offering raises out of neces- Bezos AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File FILE- In this Aug. 3, 2017, file photo, Myrtice Harris ap- plies tape to a package before shipment at an Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore. Amazon is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month. The company said Tuesday that the wage hike will benefit more than 350,000 work- ers, which includes full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal positions. the upscale grocery chain Amazon owns, will get the same raise. Hourly employ- ees who already make $15 per hour will also see a wage increase, the Seattle company said. (Workers in Britain will also get a raise.) Current pay for ware- house workers at Amazon is at least $12.25 an hour in Omaha, Nebraska, $13 in Baltimore and $16.50 in New York, according to recent job postings. The announcement was enough to soothe one of Amazon’s fiercest critics: sity: With the economy booming and unemployment near rock bottom, employ- ers are having difficulty find- ing help. Amazon, with about 100 warehouses around the country, will soon need to hire more than 100,000 work- ers to pack and ship boxes during the holiday season. The wage increase takes effect next month. Amazon said the move will benefit more than 350,000 workers, including full-time, part-time, tempo- rary and seasonal positions. Employees at Whole Foods, Sen. Bernie Sanders. The senator, who frequently uses Twitter to point out the dis- parity between Amazon’s hourly wages and Bezos’ vast fortune, congratulated Bezos for “doing exactly the right thing” and urged other com- panies to follow Amazon’s example. Sanders described Ama- zon’s move as “a shot heard around the world.” It will have repercussions beyond retailers and will put pressure on any company that operates a distribution cen- ter, said Gerald Storch of the retail consulting firm Storch Advisors. “This will lead to a general increase in minimal wages in all industries,” he said. At the same time, Storch said, the wage increase will widen the gap between the healthy retailers, such as Amazon, Walmart and Tar- get, and the struggling ones, which won’t be able to afford to compete on salary. TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Times of clouds and sun Cloudy Mostly cloudy and cool Mostly cloudy with a few showers Cool with some sun 63° 41° 63° 41° 58° 45° 56° 39° 62° 35° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 61° 47° 62° 40° OREGON FORECAST 67° 41° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 59/44 59/38 62/38 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 65/45 Lewiston 63/43 65/44 Astoria 61/43 Pullman Yakima 62/39 60/38 66/43 Portland Hermiston 68/46 The Dalles 66/39 Salem Corvallis 67/41 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 63/40 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 70/41 65/38 68/43 Ontario 69/48 Caldwell Burns 77° 56° 72° 42° 87° (1943) 27° (1950) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 67/42 The Sept. 28 article “Umatilla County offers free vac- cines in October” misstated the date of the flu vaccine clinic offered by Good Shepherd Health Care System. It will be on Oct. 20. The East Oregonian sincerely regrets the error. 0.00" 0.00" 0.04" 5.15" 7.04" 6.60" Today Medford 75/48 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 WSW 7-14 WSW 7-14 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today New 6:56 a.m. 6:32 p.m. 12:09 a.m. 3:41 p.m. First Full PORTLAND (AP) — An Oregon widow has filed a $1 million lawsuit against a woman she believes was having an extra- marital affair with her husband. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the lawsuit was filed Friday in Benton County Circuit Court. In the suit, Lana Dong claims that the cir- cumstances of the affair between her hus- band and Anh Tram Gia Phan led to her hus- band’s death. Dong claims in the suit that Phan was negligent for not doing a better job of hid- ing the affair. The lawsuit says on Dec. 5, 2017, Phan’s ex-husband caught the philandering pair at Phan’s Corvallis nail salon. The suit claims the ex-husband beat Mitch Xuan Dong with a baseball bat and stabbed him. He died a week later. Phan’s ex-husband, Than Duy Kim of Albany, was charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty. Phan declined to comment on the suit. What is Diabetes? Thu. NE 4-8 NNE 4-8 Boardman Pendleton 68/42 PORTLAND (AP) — Portland State Uni- versity is investing $3 million into efforts to research homelessness and improve urban cores. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports university President Rahmat Shoureshi announced Monday the funding dedicated to a new Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative and a Digital City Testbed Center. The collaborative aims to search for solu- tions to homelessness and examine its con- tributing factors. The testbed center will focus on how technology can be used to make urban areas more efficient, greener and healthier. The centers will be given about three years to demonstrate their effectiveness and that they can attract outside investment. Shoureshi aims to eventually create seven of these research centers at the university. The two pilot programs will be swapped for another idea if they are unable to become financially independent. WINDS (in mph) 68/48 66/36 0.01" 0.01" 0.07" 6.53" 12.34" 9.01" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 61/39 68/43 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 63/41 68/44 70° 55° 70° 44° 91° (1932) 29° (1999) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 59/39 Aberdeen 57/41 59/41 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 60/46 Correction Portland State invests $3M for Widow sues dead husband’s homelessness research centers alleged lover for $1M PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 68° 40° “The weaker retailers have been cutting costs and squeezing every penny,” Storch said. “They are in a very tough place.” Amazon, founded more than two decades ago, has expanded far beyond its book- seller beginnings. Despite its dominance, it shares a major problem with employers big and small: a tight labor mar- ket. Unemployment in the U.S. is 3.9 percent, near an 18-year low. Higher pay for workers is one way of deal- ing with that. “They’ll gladly cross the street and take a bet- ter-paying job,” said Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL, a supply chain BRIEFLY Forecast for Pendleton Area 66° 39° — Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO consulting company. Walmart raised its start- ing pay to $11 an hour ear- lier this year and said it has seen lower turnover among its employees. Target, which announced plans last year to raise hourly wages in steps to $15 by 2020 and now pays $12 an hour, said the num- ber of job applicants rose 60 percent in the days after it increased its minimum by $2 to $11 per hour last year. Amazon said it doesn’t expect to raise prices for its products to pay for the wage increases. “Customers are going (to) continue to see incredibly low prices every day,” said Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations. The push for a higher fed- eral minimum wage will be overseen by Amazon’s Jay Carney, White House press secretary during the Obama administration. Amazon won’t ask Con- gress to raise the minimum to a specific number. But “we’re sure $7.25 is too low,” Carney said. Last NATIONAL EXTREMES Melissa Naff Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 96° in Tampa, Fla. Low 21° in Daniel, Wyo. Oct 8 Oct 16 Oct 24 RD, LD, CDE Oct 31 NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Diabetes Educator October 4th, 11th, 18th & 25th 9:30AM - 11:30AM Advance Registration Required Most Major Insurances, Medicare, Medicaid For more information or to register 541-278-3249 2801 St. Anthony Way Pendleton, OR 97801 www.sahpendleton.org Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. 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