Amazon Continues to Swindle Chicago; Lawmakers Need to Take a Stand

Editorial


Amazon Continues to Swindle Chicago; Lawmakers Need to Take a Stand  


Amazon’s recent announcement that it will shut down two Whole Foods stores in our city is another clear indication that the tech giant has no problem abandoning communities it claims to serve. It is also a clear indication to Mayor Lightfoot and all Chicagoland lawmakers that now is the time to reconsider doing business with a company that has taken so much from our region — and yet has given back so little. The decision to close the Whole Foods stores is a clear example of Amazon’s self-serving tendencies and its unwillingness to return any favor to the taxpayers who funded its $10 million handout.


And while lawmakers have paid lip service to the former Whole Foods employees and residents who lost a health food option -- Mayor Lightfoot said Amazon must now protect the former Whole Foods employees as they transition to other opportunities, and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch slammed Amazon’s Jeff Bezos for taking away healthy food options from low-income families -- there has been no indication from either Chicago city hall or Springfield that they will stop doing business with the corporate giant.


Amazon attributed the reason for closing those Whole Foods stores in Chicago as a business decision meant to prop the company up for long-term success. But what about the success of the city and its taxpayers?


The tech giant’s Cook County facilities have been subsidized to the tune of $430 million since 2019 and minority communities in the Chicago area have carried the weight of the company’s expansion. According to an analysis conducted in 2020, Amazon received less than $100 million in incentives for its 15 warehouses built in predominantly white communities but collected more than $640 million in incentives for the 21 projects built in communities with larger nonwhite populations.


Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a shock that Amazon has been able to secure such lucrative tax breaks given its increased campaign contributions and lobbying to influence local leaders in recent years. In fact, between 2019 and 2021, Amazon boosted its campaign donations to Cook County leaders from $19,000 to $72,000 — a 279 percent increase.


The company has even used a loophole in Illinois that allowed an individual to occupy public office and simultaneously lobby the government, with Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin doing the company’s bidding in Springfield and, at one point, in Chicago. Despite having closed much-needed grocery stores in our city, the company is still currently lobbying local leaders around its Fresh brick-and-mortar chain.


Not only have Chicago taxpayers been getting the short end of the stick, but so have local Amazon workers. Amazon employees have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board claiming the company retaliated against employees for COVID-19 “safety strikes.” And at the beginning of April, workers staged a protest at an Amazon distribution center in Gage Park, demanding better wages and scheduling accommodations in the wake of 10.5-hour work shifts.


Amazon’s greed and graft are on full display when compared with the actions of its biggest corporate rival, Walmart. In 2020 the retailer committed to reopening seven stores forced to close in the wake of social justice protests, keeping communities served and 1,600 Chicagoans employed — a $50 million investment made without subsidies or tax credits.


Chicago deserves better than Amazon. When you consider the vast subsidies flowing directly from taxpayers’ pockets to one of the world’s largest companies, the broken commitments to neighborhoods in need, and its unacceptable working conditions, Amazon’s presence is bringing more harm than good to our community. It's time that our elected officials in Illinois take a long hard look at what the state is really getting from its relationship with Amazon.

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