seems like amazon is trying to have their cake and eat it too. Fuel surcharges only make sense if you own a fleet, but amazon drivers are independent contractors. Similarly, an "inflation" surcharge doesnt make a lot of sense when every other industry just raises prices. Do Amazon sellers see any of this 5% when they have already likely raised their prices in response to inflation? i suspect not. inflation has been unbearable for nearly a year now, so why 5% now?

It might be a tentative connection, but i think this has to do more with the unionization of an Amazon warehouse. Jeff knows tides are turning, and 5% would help to bolster quarterly earnings reports if and when healthcare, retirement, and a living wage is offered to union warehouse workers during contract negotiation. It would also help weather the storm if workers did choose to strike. This parlour trick only pans out if organized labor remains restricted to a single warehouse; its not scalable or repeatable. If the union boss is to be believed, then Amazon is looking at massive unionization across its warehouses and a potential precipitous decline in revenue in the coming years.