Hi,

Just before Amazon workers were reportedly threatened with job termination
if they fled killer tornadoes last month, corporate lobbying groups
associated directly with Amazon blocked legislation designed to prohibit
such firings.^1

In other words, when advocates tried to build in stronger protections for
workers, Amazon's lobbyists stepped in and stopped the same legislation
that could have protected the six Amazon workers who recently died in the
wake of tornadoes.

Amazon has a long history of putting its profits before its workers'
well-being, but when workers die, we've clearly reached a new level. Sign
the petition to tell Congress: [ [link removed] ]Break up Amazon and the big tech
companies!

Big Tech corporations like Amazon have too much power in our economy and
democracy. It is time to rebalance the scales. We are tired of Big Tech
corporations using their outsize power to exploit and disregard workers.

But current laws and enforcement mechanisms have proven insufficient at
curtailing the harms resulting from Big Tech's power. That’s why we need
Congress to step up and use their power to Break Up Big Tech.

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition: Congress, Break Up Big Tech!

ADD YOUR NAME

As Amazon fails to support its own workers, it continues to undercut small
businesses and make it more and more difficult for them to succeed.

Small businesses have declined sharply in both numbers and market share
across many sectors of the economy, and the number of startups launched
annually has fallen by nearly half since the 1970s.

The systematic dismantling of antitrust laws by lawmakers in Congress
contributed to much of this decline in small businesses and
entrepreneurship. That weakened antitrust enforcement, caused significant
concentration in many sectors, and fueled anticompetitive behavior by big
corporations using their market power to undermine rivals.

Now, in an era where Amazon has unprecedented power, too many of these
small businesses are destroyed or pushed to the limit by Amazon's greed,
control of supply chains, and preferencing of its own products. According
to a recent report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Amazon
keeps taking more from sellers — its cut is now up to 34%, up from 19% in
2014. These steep and growing fees are crushing small businesses, and lead
to higher consumer prices across the web.^2

Breaking Amazon up means letting businesses compete on the merits of their
products and services instead of being subject to Amazon's whims.
Together, we can build the pressure needed for Congress to take on Amazon
and break up Big Tech.

[ [link removed] ]Add your name: All Members of Congress should cosponsor the bills that
would Break Up Big Tech!

Thanks for taking action,

Maria and the team at Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

Sources:
1. The Daily Poster, "Worker Protection Bill Blocked Before Tornado
Disaster," [ [link removed] ]December 13, 2021.
2. Institute for Local Self-Reliance, "New Report: Amazon's Fees on Small
Businesses Have Soared," [ [link removed] ]December 1, 2021.
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