Bezos'
comments came just days after Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama voted against
forming a union by a more than 2-to-1 margin — a major win for the retailer
that has fiercely resisted unionization for decades.
His last
letter to shareholders as Amazon CEO can be read here.
"While the voting results were lopsided and our direct
relationship with employees is strong, it's clear to me that we need a better
vision for how we create value for employees," Bezos, the world's richest
man, wrote in the letter.
"I think we need to do a better job for our
employees."
Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the US, has
been criticised by some of its 800,000 employees for having harsh working
conditions.
Bezos pushed back against that criticism in his letter,
saying that reports that the company's workers were treated "as
robots" were inaccurate.
Bezos, who is stepping down later this year as CEO of the
company he founded in 1994, said he planned to work on how to make Amazon's
workhouses safer in his new role as executive chairman.
"His (Bezos') admission won't change anything, workers
need a union – not just another Amazon public relations effort in damage
control," Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and
Department Store Union, said in a statement.
© Reuters
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