After Amazon founder Jeff Bezos declined the invitation extended by Senator Bernie Sanders to attend and testify at the hearing called to discuss the developments of union formation in the company, the Independent lawmaker from Vermont went to share the news on Twitter. 

He wrote, “I’m sorry Mr. Bezos won’t join our hearing on income and wealth inequality. As the wealthiest person on earth I’d love to hear his reasoning as to why he is vigorously opposing a union organizing effort at Amazon which would improve wages and benefits for struggling workers.”

Sanders said on Friday that Jeff Bezos, the founder of the e-commerce and tech giant Amazon, should agree to testify at a hearing. 

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Sanders “invited” Bezos to attend the hearing scheduled for Wednesday to deliberate the Bessemer facility union elections, where an employee, Jennifer Bates, from the Amazon fulfillment center is scheduled to appear, reported AFP. 

Sanders said the e-commerce company is conducting “an aggressive union-busting campaign against Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama to stop them from collectively bargaining for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”

Sanders said on Twitter that he invited the 57-year-old billionaire “to explain to the American people why he thinks it’s appropriate for him to spend a whole lot of money denying economic dignity to workers at Amazon, while he has become $78 billion richer during the pandemic.”

The controversial union drive, initiated by Amazon employees themselves, is likely to result in the establishment of the first union formed in the company, which has approximately 800,000 employees in the US. 

Last month US President Joe Biden himself, in a cryptic manner, called out the roadblocks being put in by the company and said the election shall continue with “no intimidation, no coercion, no threats, no anti-union propaganda”, reported AFP. 

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Sanders said he was summoning the committee while citing the growing crisis of wealth inequality and stated that “during the pandemic, 664 billionaires in America have increased their wealth by $1.3 trillion.”

Amazon has said the majority of its workers did not want to join a union and has defended its policies which include a $15 minimum hourly wage. But it has created a website and distributed flyers with the slogan “DoItWithoutDues,” which encourage workers to vote against the labor initiative, reported AFP.