Amazon Bezos COVID-19 price gouging

This June 2020 video from the USA says about itself:

Checking the Power of the Corona-Profiteers: Amazon

While much of the US economy is in trouble, the Amazon corporation is not. Orders are surging and workers are coping with increased demands and dangerous conditions in the workplace. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, Amazon’s stepped up its use of third-party suppliers to ship non-essential products and has fired employees calling out public health threats while Jeff Bezos has earned $24 billion in wealth since the start of this pandemic.

Dania Rajendra, Executive Director of Athena Coalition, describes how an alliance of grassroots organizations, workers and consumers are collaborating with workers to call the billionaire corporation to account. Amazon’s supply chains may be helping consumers and their communities under lockdown right now, but their business model is a direct threat. Could Amazon be brought under public check — even be seized as a utility? Rajendra joins Laura to explain why now is a time to think bigger and bolder about the institutions that shape our economy.

“It’s going to take all of us to figure out how to restore public oversight over private power.”

For more information about the Athena Coalition, please visit here.

Translated from Dutch NOS radio today:

Amazon raised disinfectant prices after outbreak

Amazon is charging a considerably higher price for hand sanitizers, gloves and other protective products since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the USA. That is the conclusion of the American consumer watchdog Public Citizen. The organization accuses Amazon of acting unethically.

Public Citizen researched nearly 25 products on Amazon‘s site and found that Amazon prices rose by as much as 1000 percent in some cases over the pre-corona pandemic period, as well as compared to prices on other websites. For example, hand soap from the Dial brand at Amazon now costs 6.41 dollars. That same bottle costs $ 1.49 to $ 2.29 elsewhere.

According to the consumer organization, Amazon has broken rules because unlimited price hikes are sometimes prohibited in some US states. Enforcement of those rules is difficult because the legislation is not the same in all states.

… Public Citizen received many more complaints about price increases of products that became scarce due to the coronavirus crisis, such as baking powder and cleaning products.