Black Friday: Amazon workers go on strike - online retailer faces fiasco
Created: 11/27/2022, 2:12 p.m
By: Stella Henrich, Fabian Müller
Black Friday sweetens the annual Christmas business for retailers.
Many consumers go in search of bargains.
But now Amazon employees are on strike.
Munich/Bremen – The Verdi union called on workers at the online retailer Amazon to go on strike just one day before Black Friday.
On Thursday (November 24) and Friday (November 25) the employees are supposed to stop working for better working conditions and higher wages.
And that in the middle of the ongoing Christmas business.
According to Verdi, the employees in Winsen an der Luhe in the district of Harburg started walking out on Thursday at 5.45 a.m.
In addition, a strike was called in Achim (Verden district) for the two days in question.
According to
Manager Magazin
, the Bremen location should also participate.
The strike hit the online retailer at the worst possible time.
Black Friday (November 25) is considered an important shopping event for the group.
Black Friday: Amazon employees stop work - Verdi union calls for a strike
According to Verdi, Amazon continues to refuse to recognize the collective agreements of the retail and mail order trade in Lower Saxony.
A union employee complained that the most consuming time of the year was carried out on the backs of the employees: "The health of the employees suffers massively from the performance and work density, and there are also financial worries".
Amazon employees are on strike: Amazon still refuses to recognize the collective agreements of the retail and mail order trade in Lower Saxony.
(Iconic image) © Weingartner/imago
Under the motto "
make amazon pay
", campaigns are taking place worldwide these days to draw attention to the working conditions at Amazon.
"Amazon owes its commercial success to us employees, but we lack the necessary appreciation," said Rainer Reising from Verdi.
"We just don't want to run after the carrot like a donkey any more, we want to have a say in our income and working conditions," said the shop steward in a press statement.
The Amazon scam
Amazon is repeatedly criticized for the working conditions of its employees.
A large-scale research by Correctiv shows how pressure, control and extreme stress are apparently part of the group's business model.
Irregular shifts, excessive driving times and uncomfortable sleeping places are therefore part of everyday life for truck drivers who work for Amazon subcontractors and deliver hundreds of millions of packages a year.
According to Reising, Amazon has repeatedly increased hourly wages in recent years.
However, due to longer working hours and low or no special payments, such as Christmas bonuses and holiday bonuses, the incomes of the employees are often several hundred euros below those of their colleagues in comparable companies bound by collective bargaining agreements, explains the trade unionist.
For years, Verdi has been demanding that Amazon participate in collective agreements.
The mail order company, on the other hand, doesn't want to know anything about it.
Amazon employees lay down work: online retailer sees itself as a logistics company
Amazon on Thursday (November 24) indicated that employees in logistics received a pay rise in September.
According to the
NDR
, the starting wage with bonuses is at least 13 euros gross per hour.
The statutory minimum wage nationwide has been €12 an hour since October 1st.
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Amazon has argued for a number of years that it's not a retail company, but a logistics company.
The union, on the other hand, demands payment according to retail and mail order tariffs.
According to the online retailer, the two-day strike surrounding the Black Friday discount day does not expect any effects on its customers.
According to a company spokesman, preparations for Black Friday week began months ago.
Meanwhile, many jobs at Amazon are falling victim to the cutbacks.
According to media reports, around 10,000 jobs are to be cut.
