Trade union Verdi called for a strike by US workers in Germany on Sunday for the second time in the week to disrupt orders following the Black Friday sales.
Archival photo from protests against Amazon’s activities
/INA FASSBENDER / AFP /AFP
According to trade unionists, the strike is set to start on Monday night shifts and end at the end of the second shift on Tuesday. The previous protest action involving 500 Amazon employees lasted three days – from Thursday to Saturday.
Verdi, along with other unions, has been organizing strikes in Amazon in Germany since 2013, the largest market for this e-commerce giant after the US. Trade unions hope that they will be able to persuade the employer to recognize collective agreements that apply to workers in other companies.
An Amazon spokesman said the company “offers excellent” wages and benefits and safe working conditions comparable to those offered by other major employers in the region.
The US retail giant saw sales spike around the world as restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus prompted consumers to buy massively online. This in turn made it difficult for some brick-and-mortar stores to compete.
Verdi believes this is an argument to raise workers’ wages, pointing out that they were not sufficiently protected against the spread of the coronavirus.
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