The e-commerce giant Amazon asked Thursday for partial unemployment for its six French sites whose activity has been suspended, a request refused by the administration, we learned Monday from the management of the American giant of the logistics and the Ministry of Labor.
Management said it had "applied for partial unemployment for six sites, or about 10,000 people, which was unsuccessful." The ministry said it received a request "Thursday" and turned it down.
“The recent decision of the Versailles Court of Appeal has obviously had an impact on our activity in France […]. In this context, we have also requested assistance, as other companies in France have been able to benefit from it, ”said Amazon's management in an email.
Suspension of activities until May 5
Amazon was ordered by the Versailles Court of Appeal to carry out a risk assessment related to the coronavirus crisis with the employee representatives and to reduce its activity by then under penalty of 100,000 euros per violation found. The group preferred to close its warehouses until May 5 inclusive.
“Indeed, our logistics activity is technically complex and the penalty of 100,000 euros per offense, specified by the Court of Appeal, could imply that even a tiny rate of accidental treatment of unauthorized products, of the order of 0.1%, could result in a penalty of more than one billion euros per week, "explained management. "Unfortunately, this risk means that we had no choice but to temporarily suspend the activity of our French distribution centers while we assess the best way to operate in light of the court's decision", she added.
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The CGT, CFDT and SUD unions of Amazon France have proposed to management a gradual resumption of activity. In a press release, they describe Amazon's request for partial unemployment as "properly indecent" and stress that "this device was put in place to help employees of companies whose activity is made impossible during the period, as catering or non-essential businesses ”.
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"Even more, Amazon has chosen to temporarily close its warehouses since April 16, while continuing its activity from those in Europe, to better avoid two successive court decisions," they indignant.
