Amazon hit by strikes on busiest shopping day
WORKERS at Amazon’s main distribution hub in Italy are planning their first ever strike for today, trade unions said, while they are also striking at six warehouses in Germany, threatening to disrupt one of the year’s busiest shopping days.
Like the rest of Europe, Italians in recent years have embraced the US tradition of Black Friday, a day of heavy discounting by retailers on the day after Thanksgiving in the US.
Unions said in a statement more than 500 Amazon workers at the Piacenza site in northern Italy had agreed to strike after a failure to negotiate bonuses with the company.
Workers have also decided not to do any overtime until December 31, covering the peak season for the online retailer, which hires temporary workers during this period.
Amazon employs about 1 600 people on a permanent basis at the Piacenza site, the first it built in the country after launching its Italian website in 2010.
The Verdi trade union in Germany said Amazon employees would also strike today at six distribution centres in the country as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
“The world’s biggest online retailer wants to achieve record sales on this day, but employees have to produce record performances not only on this day so that everything runs how Amazon wants it,” Verdi board member Stefanie Nutzenberger said.
Amazon in Italy said it remained focused on trying to guarantee scheduled deliveries for its customers in the coming days.
The company said salaries paid to its workers were among the highest in the logistic sector and it also provided some benefits such as private medical insurance. – Reuters