Current controversy over worker access to quality 401k plans (or lack thereof) is something even the world’s richest man can’t escape.
Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is being publicly targeted this week by frustrated Washington Post employees. The newspaper’s union is seeking an increase in salaries and retirement-plan benefits, which Bezos purchased in 2013.
“We have been surprised and unsettled by the Post’s stance since bargaining began in May,” union spokesman and Post transportation writer Fredrick Kunkle stated in an email to The Washington Free Beacon. “The company has refused to negotiate at all over things that are of importance to us, such as improving our retirement benefits or increasing paid parental leave, while demanding significant concessions from us.”
The union agreed to reduced 401k match rates in 2014 in hopes of preventing a financial collapse typical of print publications at the time, the Beacon reported.
But since 2016, when the paper returned to profitability, employees have gained little to no headway with regard to improving compensation.
“The company and its owner have received an extraordinary tax break and yet show no sign of passing on some of those proceeds to its staff, unlike other major corporations,” Kunkle wrote.
In the wake of President Trump’s tax bill, several companies—Visa Inc., Nationwide, Aflac and SunTrust Banks Inc. to name a few—have announced plans to raise 401k contribution rates.
Even in the midst of the recession in 2009, average match rates hovered around 3 percent. Post employees are fighting for a bump up from 1 percent. The union would like to think public bargaining power will do the trick but is not ruling out a strike.
“We’re hopeful that the people who lead this company will see that treating its journalists fairly will only increase its standing in the public’s eyes,” Kunkle added.
Bezos reportedly made $20 billion in January alone, according to a Time report on Tuesday.
Jessa Claeys is a writer, editor and graphic designer.
