Thousands of Amazon workers took part in a strike during Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year, across distribution centres in Germany and Italy in protest for better wages.
German trade union Ver.di led the protests, having pushed for higher pay for some 12,000 of Amazon Germany’s workers since 2013. It argues employees receive lower wages than others in retailer and mail-order jobs.
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The protests took place at six distribution centres on Friday (24 November) throughout Germany, Amazon’s second biggest market behind the US, and at one centre in Italy.
According to the union, around 2,000 employees participated in the Germany protests, while 500 are understood to have taken part in the Italian strike, which highlighted the failure of Amazon to negotiate bonuses, and called for permanent workers.
“Up to now, Amazon has rigorously rejected the legal safeguarding of its employees by means of a collective agreement and is unsuccessfully trying to prevent further strikes by non-binding payments and bonuses,” Ver.di said in a statement on Friday.
The union is calling on the retail giant to negotiate a collective agreement for “good and healthy work”. Ver.di says Amazon needs to put into place legal protection for the health of its employees.
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By GlobalDataWith a so-called ‘health premium’, the union says Amazon offers financial incentives to go to work despite illness, and that employees who are sick more often risk being forced out or being dismissed.
It is understood the workers have agreed not to undertake any overtime until 31 December in protest, which is peak season for the online retailer.
A spokesperson for Amazon told just-style the protests caused no disruption to deliveries, adding: “Customers can trust our delivery promise.
“The vast majority of our employees in Germany came to work and remained focused on delivering the best customer experience. We are proud of our record of job creation and are confident we will deliver for our customers this holiday season.”
