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Comment by jzwinck | Hacker News Reader

Which American Amazon.com employees are receiving US welfare checks? I tried to locate a source for this claim, but came up short.

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It's not Amazon employees, actually, their warehouses are staffed by those terrible day-labor contract places where people show up and wait for hours unpaid to find out if they get to work for minimum wage later in the day.

I've seen a lot of sources for Wal-Mart employees under similar pay levels. It was SNAP, TANF and Medicaid primarily, not so much 'welfare'. Still a sizable subsidy, and a decent % of those people's ultimate pay/benefit package.

Do you have a source regarding the day laborers who wait for hours seeking work for minimum wage? Because an article your sibling posted, which is critical of Amazon, says warehouse workers get $11 per hour (about 50% more than minimum wage). Outside of major cities, that seems like an OK wage for a fairly straightforward job. If it's not, why don't you raise the minimum wage?

You're right, it seems they pay $11. I had gotten that info about the day-contracting centers from other places that they staff, at some point. And I personally agree with raising the minimum wage, although not any higher than $11, probably, so that's immaterial.

That's still hard to make a living on at 40 hours and no benefits, though. And it is unfair to competitors who pay a more livable wage without forcing their employees to get on medicaid.

I have heard about day laborers lingering around HomeDepot, etc., hoping to land a stint with contractors (builders) who happen to make materials purchases at HomeDepot, etc. but never heard of Wal*Mart, HomeDepot, etc. hiring these people to work in their businesses.

They are talking about things like the working tax credit https://www.gov.uk/working-tax-credit/overview

As a Tax payer in the UK I am not happy about subsiding a profitable companies work force

I believe this is in reference to those who work in the warehouses. Amazon uses a large number of tempory workers, which limits the number of hours available and the ability to become ft.

This article may provide a better overview: http://www.businessinsider.com/brutal-conditions-in-amazons-...

Possibly an exaggeration, but OP is probably referring to the workers who run Amazon's fulfilment centers.

Those fulfillment centers serve Europe?

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