But, just a word to the wise, if you’re a writer and have intentions of joining in on the recent wave of tech titan bashing, you may want to first make sure your paper isn’t owned by the same tech titan who has wandered into your crosshairs.\u00a0 Unfortunately,\u00a0Fredrick Kunkle of the Washington Post didn’t heed that advice when he published a scathing op-ed about Jeff Bezos in the\u00a0Huffington Post<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0 Here’s a taste of what he had to say:<\/p>\n \nOne of the wealthiest men in the world is thinking of ways to give back. But he\u2019s still taking from the very people who helped him build his fortune.<\/strong><\/p>\n But as Bezos, whose worth now exceeds $80 billion, loosens his pockets, it\u2019s important to put his charitable giving \u2014 and the philanthropy of the super-rich \u2014 into perspective:\u00a0Many people worked hard for Bezos to help make him so rich, and he has a record of treating them poorly.<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon\u2019s history of dodging taxes, its mistreatment of workers, and its ruthlessness toward even the smallest competitors have been well documented.<\/strong>\u00a0It put ambulances outside distribution centers rather than install adequate air conditioning. It broke up a union organizing effort by closing the call center and dismissing everyone who worked there. The New York Times documented its punishing work environment in a front-page expos\u00e9. The company\u2019s actions, as Forbes put it, hark back to an earlier time when workers were treated as \u201creplaceable cogs in the machine.\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone at the Post wants it to succeed and prosper. But we want our employees to succeed and prosper, too.<\/p>\n Two years ago, however, Bezos slashed retirement benefits.\u00a0<\/strong>For reasons that remain unclear, he froze a pension plan that was awash in so much money that neither he nor the company would possibly have faced additional liabilities. He also spurned the sort of compromise plan The New York Times Co. had pioneered ? an adjustable pension plan that would have ensured the Post would never encounter a problem funding it. In essence, this innovative approach, developed by the financial services firm Cheiron, would have mitigated the company\u2019s risks by sharing them with employees and continued to grow their annual retirement benefit.<\/p>\n Bezos\u2019 decision on retirement benefits had nothing to do with the balance sheet and, arguably, everything to do with ideology.<\/strong>\u00a0And it almost overshadowed Bezos\u2019 demand for the right to cancel everyone\u2019s health insurance and his push to take it away from part-time employees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Not surprisingly, Kunkle’s efforts earned him this sternly-worded warning from Wapo’s Director of Labor Relations for his “willful and intentional violation of![\"Bezos\"](\"http:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/user230519\/imageroot\/2017\/09\/18\/Bezos_0.JPG\")
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\nThe Washington Post\u2019s standards and ethics policy.”\u00a0 Of course, we wouldn’t be surprised if this letter turns out to be just a prelude to Kunkle’s eventual dismissal…somehow we suspect his ‘performance reviews’ are about to become a bit more critical.<\/p>\n