Amazon workers across the globe are planning industrial action and protests today – Black Friday – one of the online retailer’s busiest days of the year.
Workers in the US, UK, and several EU countries are uniting behind the Make Amazon Pay banner, which says: “Amazon takes too much and gives back too little.”
A coalition of labour groups, trade unions, grassroots campaigns and non-profit-making organisations are supporting the workers’ protests. In the UK they include the GMB Union, TUC, Labour Behind the Label and the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
In the UK no Amazon warehouses are unionised, so it would not be legal for workers to strike.
Campaign groups that include Amazon workers will, however, be staging protests at Amazon buildings in London, Coalville, Leicestershire, Coventry and Peterborough.
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The Make Amazon Pay coalition is demanding a pay rises for Amazon workers, including hazard and peak time pay, plus more sick leave and an end to casual employment and union-busting activities. It also wants a halt in worker surveillance and looser productivity targets and is campaigning for the company to pay more tax to national governments.
“This company is a pandemic profiteer and can afford to do better,” said Mick Rix from the GMB Union. “It’s time for Amazon to sit down with their workers’ union GMB and make Amazon a great, safe place to work.”
The Covid pandemic has seen Amazon’s profits triple, which, according to War on Want’s Owen Espley, has made it imperative to campaign on behalf of its workers. He said: “Amazon’s growing power is a threat to communities and workers around the world.
War on Want claimed on Twitter that Amazon could give each of its workers a Covid-19 bonus of $690,000 — and still be as rich as it was at the start of the pandemic.
Amazon has not so far commented on the UK action, but in the US its representatives have said the company is addressing many of the Make Amazon Pay group’s concerns, while admitting things “are not perfect” as they are.
Amazon does face strike action in Germany where the union Verdi called on employees at major shipping centres to strike.
In the US Amazon has fought off attempts to unionise its workers. In Alabama, earlier this year workers voted against forming that country’s first unionised Amazon warehouse. But the RWDSU union, which organised the Alabama effort, accused Amazon of illegally interfering in the vote and misleading employees about the implications of unionisation in mandatory staff meetings.
Amazon denies the claims, but was found to have hired anti-trade union consultants before the ballot.
The Unite union subsequently asked Amazon to guarantee UK and Irish workers it would not try to stop union organising.
In a letter to Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, Unite executive officer Sharon Graham wrote: “Although we do have members in Amazon, workers in your company are not currently free to join a union without fear and without obstruction and propaganda being deployed against them.”
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In September Amazon announced plans to hire 55,000 staff, 2,500 of which will be in the UK. The US will host 40,000 of the new roles with the remainder located in Japan, India and Germany.
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