Amazon Raises Minimum Wage to $15 for All Employees
*By Carlo Versano*
Amazon said Tuesday it will raise the minimum wage for all its workers in the U.S. to $15 an hour.
The e-commerce giant announced in a [blog post](https://blog.aboutamazon.com/working-at-amazon/amazon-raises-minimum-wage-to-15-for-all-us-employees) that the change would be effective Nov. 1, include all full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees and that there would be no conditions attached to the raise.
Further, Jay Carney, the former Obama press secretary who heads Amazon ($AMZN) corporate affairs, said the company will advocate for an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has been at $7.25 since 2009.
The company said 250,000 employees and 100,000 seasonal hires will benefit from the changes. Whole Foods employees, who have begun organizing for a union, will be included. Amazon bought Whole Foods last year for nearly $14 billion.
In a press release, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, "We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we wanted to lead."
Amazon has been under increasing pressure from Congress, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), over wages and work conditions at its fulfillment centers.
U.S. officials have approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will let American women and girls buy contraceptive medication from the same aisle as aspirin and eyedrops.
Bob Iger will remain as CEO of The Walt Disney Co. through the end of 2026, agreeing to a two-year contract extension that will give the entertainment and theme park company some breathing room to find his successor.
Farmers Insurance became the latest property insurance company to pull out of Florida on Tuesday despite repeated efforts by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature have made to try to calm the volatile market that is making homeownership less affordable.
