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
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cool
Mostly cloudy with
a few showers
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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
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Kennewick Walla Walla
65/45
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63/43
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61/43
Pullman
Yakima 62/39
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Portland
Hermiston
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The Dalles 66/39
Salem
Corvallis
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Yesterday
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PRECIPITATION
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Eugene
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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)
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through 3 p.m. yest.
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Pendleton 61/39
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
63/41
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55°
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91° (1932) 29° (1999)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
59/39
Aberdeen
57/41
59/41
Tacoma
Yesterday
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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
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Melissa Naff
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
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Oct 8
Oct 16
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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
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