Amazon workers are preparing to strike in dozens of countries on the year’s busiest days for online shopping.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are at risk of major disruption in more than 20 countries, including the US, Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Italy, as the organizers of Make Amazon Pay Day aim to ‘hold Amazon accountable for [labor] abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy.’
In India, workers are calling on Amazon to treat workers properly, following a wave of injuries among warehouse staff caused by a massive heatwave last July.
The strikes are being supported by unions and workers’ rights groups from across the world.
The exact number of people striking is not known, but UNI Global Union, one of the key organizers, said thousands of workers in Germany would be striking, while hundreds in India would also be withholding labor.
Christy Hoffman, the general secretary of UNI Global Union, said: ‘[Jeff] Bezos’s company has spent untold millions to stop workers from organizing, but the strikes and protests happening around the world show that workers’ desire for justice – for union representation – can’t be stopped.
‘Make Amazon Pay Day is becoming a global act of resistance against Amazon’s abuse of power.’
It is the fifth year in a row the strike has been called by organizers, who deliberately target Amazon’s busiest time of the year to get their message across.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are at risk of major disruption in more than 20 countries (File image of shoppers queuing on Thanksgiving 2024
Amazon staff members on a GMB union picket line outside the online retailer’s site in Coventry, UK, as they take part in a strike in their long-running dispute over pay
In 2023, Amazon represented 18% of the worldwide Black Friday sales, with more than $170 billion in total holiday sales.
But Amazon accused the coalition of unions of ‘intentionally misleading’ people.
Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards told Fox: ‘The fact is, at Amazon we provide great pay, great benefits, and great opportunities — all from day one.
‘We’ve created more than 1.5 million jobs around the world, and counting, and we provide a modern, safe, and engaging workplace whether you work in an office or at one of our operations buildings.’
In the US, the company announced it was spending $2.2billion on increased wages for warehouse and transportation staff, resulting in a base wage of over $22 an hour.
Amazon said it also introduces day-one benefits including health, vision and dental insurance; a 401(k) with 50% company match; up to 20 weeks paid leave, which includes 14 weeks of pregnancy-related disability leave and six weeks of parental leave; and Amazon’s Career Choice program, which prepays college tuition.
Despite these benefits, strike organizers said they still want to fight as few others across the world are given these benefits.
‘Amazon is everywhere, but so are we. By uniting our movements across borders, we can not only force Amazon to change its ways but lay the foundations of a world that prioritizes human dignity, not Jeff Bezos’ bank balance.’ said Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, general coordinator of strike organizer Progressive International.
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