Update 19/04 – Amazon’s warehouses will remain closed until Wednesday, April 22, inclusive, the company said.
It is always possible to order and receive all the products advertised as available on Amazon, assured FrĂ©dĂ©ric Duval, the general manager of the French subsidiary of the giant of online commerce. In an email sent to French Amazon customers, the boss specifies that the delivery times displayed on the site have been adjusted, but this has in fact already been the case since the start of containment. Orders are processed by the group’s European warehouses.
During the few days when the company will assess the health situation of its six French warehouses, the employees will stay at home. Amazon will pay them 100% of their salary, without going through the partial unemployment scheme, contrary to what had been suggested (read: Amazon suspends the activity of its warehouses in France until April 21). Amazon employs more than 10,000 people in France.
Originally, the suspension of the activity was to last until April 20 inclusive. But ” I cannot confirm today that [l’arrĂŞt de l’activitĂ©] will last five days “Explained FrĂ©dĂ©ric Duval to the cameras of LCI. ” It is too early to speak of reopening at this time. I am unable to give a date “, He adds.
The boss of Amazon France remains on the line of defense of the company, which regrets the decision of the court of Nanterre which restricts the activity of the distributor to the marketing of only so-called essential products for a month. ” There are things we are shocked to see, dildos or drones “, Described to Franceinfo Emilien Williatte, CGT delegate for the Douai site. The syndicate ” valued [qu’Amazon] does not send so-called essential products “
But who has the right to say that such a product is essential? A union, Amazon, justice? ” Today, I cannot say whether a nail clipper is an essential product because it belongs to a hygiene category or if it is a product that is not considered to be hygiene. I don’t know if a condom is a medical product “Continues FrĂ©dĂ©ric Duval.
This ambiguity and the penalty of one million euros per day and per violation found prompts Amazon to ” not to take risks And close the distribution centers. The group regrets the impact of this decision on “ the thousands of French companies that sell on amazon.fr, our employees and our partners ” But it won’t make much difference to customers.
At the time of the referral submitted to the Nanterre court, several trade union organizations had requested the closing of the warehouses to protect the health of the employees. Amazon has let know that social distancing measures have been put in place, as well as reinforced cleaning of sites, and that disinfection products are provided to employees. This did not prevent several cases of contamination, including an employee of the Brétigny-sur-Orge warehouse in a coma, according to the CGT.
– .
