Amazon workers plan global Black Friday strikes, protests
Increased salaries, better job security, and improvements to the workplace are among 25 demands published by workers
Amazon workers in 20 countries are preparing to strike or protest on Black Friday as part of the 'Make Amazon Pay' campaign.
The campaign group includes 70 trade unions and organisations, including Amazon Workers International, Oxfam, and Greenpeace, who are demanding better working conditions at Amazon offices and warehouses, fair wages for employees, and accountability from top executives.
In the UK, the unions that are supporting the campaign include:
- Trades Union Congress
- GMB Union
- International Transport Workers' Federation
- Momentum
- War on Want
- Labour Behind the Label
"Amazon is everywhere, involved in almost every step of the global economy, but we are too," says 'Make Amazon Pay' website.
"At every link in this chain of abuse, we are fighting back to Make Amazon Pay. On Black Friday 26 November 2021, from oil refineries, to factories, to warehouses, to data centres, to corporate offices in countries across the world, workers and activists are rising up in strikes, protests and actions to Make Amazon Pay."
The protests are set to take place at Amazon sites in California, Minnesota, New York City and Boston, as well as in the UK, several EU countries and India.
In the UK, Amazon warehouses are not unionised, so legally they can't strike. While many workers in UK will be working on Friday, the campaign groups say they will stage protests at Amazon buildings in Leicestershire, Coventry, Coalville, Peterborough and at its London headquarters.
On its website, 'Make Amazon Pay' has published a list of 25 demands that include:
- increased salaries
- hazard pay and peak time increments
- better job security
- extending paid sick leave
- suspending productivity and surveillance regime
- ending casual employment status
- stopping "union-busting" activities
- offering unions access to Amazon worksites
- committing to zero emissions by 2030
- paying taxes in full without using loopholes, tax havens or profit shifting
"Amazon's growing power is a threat to communities and workers around the world," Owen Espley, from the War on Want campaign group told the BBC.
"Amazon is abusing its dominance across online retail, cloud services, and logistics, to create unfair competition that is driving down standards for everyone. Amazon workers face unsafe conditions, constant surveillance and are treated like robots."
"It's time for Amazon to pay fair wages, fair taxes, and for its impact on the planet."
Amazon says it has already made progress on these demands.
"These groups represent a variety of interests, and while we are not perfect in any area, if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing in each one of these areas you'll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said.
Amazon is recent years has faced a heightened scrutiny over its labour practices.
Earlier this year, a failed effort by some staff in Bessemer facility, Alabama, to organise displayed Amazon's aggressive attitude against unions.
While the unionisation effort was defeated by a 2-1 margin, RWDSU - the group which sought to represent Bessemer workers - filed a legal challenge, alleging that the management had used unfair labour practices to discourage workers from unionising.
RWDSU alleged that the management sent text messages to workers at the Bessemer warehouse and asked them to attend anti-union meetings, despite the company's own social distancing policy.
The unionisation drive sparked huge political interest in the US, with President Joe Biden stating in a video message that every employee should have a fair choice to join a union, and that no employer should be allowed to take that choice from workers.
Biden also said that there should be no threats, intimidation, coercion or anti-union propaganda from employers, and that no manager should confront workers about their union preferences.