Amazon’s Burgeoning Infrastructure 1997-2021
Thank you for your continued support of Good Jobs First. I know you care about our mission, so I wanted to let you know about an exciting opportunity we have to further our mission of creating a worker-centered, community-empowered economy.
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, and a generous donor has offered to match every donation we receive — dollar for dollar — up to $10,000 through the end of the year.
Will you help us meet this challenge by donating right now?
Here at Good Jobs First, we are proud to provide the tools and knowledge that help people challenge profitable corporations that extract money from our communities.
Here’s just one example: Amazon has fueled its hyper-expansion in part through an aggressive strategy to extract tax breaks from states and localities. More than 20 times per year since 2012, Amazon has pulled down subsidy deals — now totaling more than $5.1 billion! As our map shows, Amazon has gotten the money despite a business model dependent on rapid delivery (the whole “paying Amazon to do what it must do”).
In return, Amazon has given us hazardous workplaces, resorted to aggressive, even illegal tactics against workers seeking to organize and continued to ride roughshod on vendors.
How do we push back against such a massive corporation? It starts by understanding exactly what Amazon is doing, and where. That’s where Amazon Tracker comes in. Deal by deal, we painstakingly compile original documents to show you where Amazon has located and how much public money it got for which tentacles of its vast operation.
This year, to make it easier for journalists, policymakers and campaigners to use, we turned it into a fully searchable, downloadable database. That upgrade cost over $7,500 and is just one example of what we were able to do thanks to the generous past support of individuals like you.
This year, for the second year in a row, a generous donor has agreed to match all donations up to $10,000. Want to give $25? It becomes $50. Or $125 to make $250? For your $1,000 Good Jobs First will get $2,000.
Will you help us reach our goal?
It’s absurd that Jeff Bezos can fly to space for fun while Amazon’s workers still lack a union contract to support their families. It’s outrageous that during the pandemic, Amazon’s shareholders gained billions of dollars, while struggling communities that need jobs are bullied into subsidizing Amazon operations.
It’s time to empower people, communities, and state and local governments with the tools they need to push back. That’s where Good Jobs First comes in. Help us now and double your impact.
Thanks for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Greg, Phil, Arlene, Kasia, Amy, Kenny, and Tim