New York, NY – Amazon continues to expand its anti-union business network as it considers purchasing more companies.
As Amazon’s e-commerce model brings in more cash while much of the country faces a national depression, this giant is bargain hunting. It continues to acquire companies and expand into industries. Its presence is already felt in book sales, apparel, technology, healthcare, retail, movie productions, and groceries.
Bezos is in talks with the AMC Theaters about a massive pandemic buyout. With COVID-19 stay-at-home regulations the movie theater industry has been hard hit and AMC is considering Chapter 11. Over 634 AMC locations in the U.S. and Canada have closed with thousands of employees out of work. The purchase of AMC would not only provide a distribution network for Amazon films and productions but also place the company in the real estate business.
As Fairway filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Amazon quickly picked up two of their New Jersey stores. Amazon plans to open grocery operations in major cities across the country. It has filed for an alcoholic beverage license for a supermarket in Washington D.C and is on a search for store locations in Atlanta Georgia.
Amazon continues a business model that successfully provides products to consumers while controlling markets and distribution lanes. As it continues to monopolize industries and dominate market share it’s effective e-commerce is taking a negative turn for its employees.
During the COVID-19 crisis Amazon was slow to provide protective gear to those working at their warehouses throughout the country. It’s estimated that hundreds of their personnel have contracted the deadly virus. While employees had been requesting the company implement safety precautions since early March, it took months for them to address concerns of workers. An employee at Amazon’s Staten Island fulfillment center had died of coronavirus.
With Amazon not addressing dangers of novel coronavirus at their Staten Island facility the staff protested. Employee Christian Smalls was accused of organizing the demonstrations and was fired. The company sent a message to all – The Amazon empire will remain union-free.
