Updated 15:35
The online retail giant Amazon has announced that it will increase its minimum wage for all employees across the US and UK.
It comes following mounting criticism of the company from the likes of US Senator Bernie Sanders.
The Vermont senator has suggested many employees at the company "who work for the wealthiest person on Earth, are paid wages so low they can’t make ends meet".
Jeff Bezos is the wealthiest person in the world. It is not enough for him to offer 25 cents-an-hour wage increases to employees making grossly inadequate wages.
There is no reason why Bezos and Amazon cannot pay workers $15 an hour plus decent benefits. https://t.co/wxt0KKdJeF
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 25, 2018
He suggested the median pay at Amazon in the US is $28,446 (around €24,650) - although Amazon, which has accused the senator of spreading "misleading statements about pay and benefits", responded by suggesting it was $34,123 (€29,600) and the lower figure was a global one.
Last month, Senator Sanders introduced a bill entitled the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act - or the 'Stop BEZOS' Act - in a bid to tax large companies whose workers receive benefits such as food stamps.
Now, Amazon says hundreds of thousands of its employees will receive a pay increase from next month.
According to the company, a new US minimum wage of $15 (€13) will come into effect from November 1st - a change which the company says will benefit more than 250,000 employees, as well as 100,000 seasonal employees during the Christmas period this year.
The new rate is more than double the national US minimum wage of $7.25, with Amazon saying they will also advocate for a nationwide minimum wage increase.
In the UK, meanwhile, the minimum wage will increase to £10.50 (€11.80) for the London area and £9.50 (€10.65) elsewhere in the UK - a change which the company says will impact more than 17,000 employees and 20,000 seasonal workers.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos - who is the world's richest man, with an estimated net worth of more than $150 billion - said: "We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do, and decided we want to lead.
"We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us."
The change will also apply to staff at the Amazon-owned Whole Foods grocery chain.
Responding to the announcement, Bernie Sanders congratulated the Amazon chief for "doing exactly the right thing".
I want to congratulate Jeff Bezos for doing exactly the right thing by raising the minimum wage at Amazon and Whole Foods to $15 an hour.
Let me thank the hundreds of Amazon workers who contacted my office and the Fight for $15 movement, which has been leading this effort.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 2, 2018
Today's move comes just under a month after Amazon became only the second company to hit a market value of $1 trillion.
