Jeff Bezos abruptly cuts health benefits for nearly 2,000 part-time workers in Whole Foods

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Thursday cut benefits for part-time workers at his grocery chain Whole Foods, drawing criticism from the left for a move that could leave thousands of people without health insurance.

"Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world," Boston-based activist Jonathan Cohn said on Twitter. "This is disgusting."

Business Insider reporter Hayley Peterson broke the story. The decision will affect 1,900 of the company's 95,000 workers – those who work part-time, or around 20 hours a week.

"We provide team members with resources to find alternative options for health coverage or to explore full-time, qualified health care positions starting 30 hours per week," a Whole Foods spokesperson told Peterson. "All members of Whole Foods Market continue to receive working conditions including a 20% discount in the store. "

An employee, who has worked for the company for 1[ads1]5 years but felt anonymity was necessary to avoid retaliation for comment, said she was devastated by the news. [19659002] "I'm in shock," the employee said. "I've worked here for 15 years. This is why I keep the job – because of my benefits. "

Producer Jennifer Solotaroff took to Twitter to tell her story about being an employee of Whole Foods and explaining to her audience her importance of benefits for the company's part-time employees.

"I worked at Whole Foods, and it was the kind of job where people were able to work and go through their lives," Solotaroff said. "The employees were looked after, and you could feel it – morale was great, there was a diverse environment, and the staff felt supported. So much of it had to do with coverage. "

The news of Bezo's decision did not come as a surprise to author Elon Green.

" Remember that one of Bezo's first acts as a publisher of The Washington Post was to cut staff retirement benefits, "tweeted Green.

The move came less than a month after Bezos signed a pledge to invest in workers, The Verge explained:

Last month, Amazon joined a number of other technology companies and Fortune 500 companies in signing a letter describing the purpose of a company as something not only designed to return shareholder value, but also to serve employees and the community. "Each of our stakeholders is crucial," the pledge reads. to deliver value to all of them, for the future success of our companies, our communities and our country. "

This link between words and actions, said Business Insider columnist Bob Bryan, shows that in kke is no substitute for solidarity. [19659002] "The Whole Foods decision is not only hypocritical of Bezos, but also proves why workers should never put too much trust in the kind words of CEOs and instead push for lasting changes to maintain their interests and their colleagues, "Bryan wrote.