Contact:
Dana Robinson Slote, Council Communications, 206-615-0061
SEATTLE – Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle), Chair of the Council’s Civil Rights, Utilities, Economic Development and Arts Committee, issued an open letter to CEO Jeff Bezos following this morning’s meeting of Whole Foods’ shareholders and subsequent vote to approve deal with Amazon.com asking that he convene a national conversation with other employers in the gig economy and labor advocates to address the issues that plague the unregulated “gig economy.”
Herbold wrote: “I am writing to you today, on what may be a historic day for your company, to ask if you will convene a national conversation with other employers in the gig economy and labor advocates to plan how you will each treat your employees as well as you treat your customers, engaging with them not as data, but as people with real needs and real lives. Not as a metric. If the gig economy is indeed here to stay, you have a responsibility to participate in a conversation about fair work, schedules, and livable wages.”
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