Amazon workers organize demonstrations on Day One

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Thousands of workers at Amazon sites around the world are organizing anti-payment and payment terms demonstrations as the online retailer begins its annual sale.

On Monday, Amazon begins to offer discounts to its Premium members.

Unions say 2,000 workers are on strike in Germany and the United States. Workers in a Minnesota center apparently anticipate a six-hour work stoppage. In the United Kingdom, events of one week are planned.

Amazon says that it offers great job opportunities.

William Stolz, a picker in a Shakopee warehouse warehouse in Minnesota, told the BBC that workers were looking for "safe and reliable jobs" at Amazon.

He says he should pick an item every eight seconds or so, 332 per hour, for a 10-hour day.

"The speed at which we have to work is very exhausting physically and mentally, sometimes resulting in injury," he said.

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"Basically, we just want them to treat us with respect as human beings and not as machines," he said.

The first day starts on Monday, but in reality lasts 48 hours. The Seattle-based retailer, founded by Jeff Bezos, announced that new offers would be launched every five minutes, "giving customers many reasons to come back again and again."

One of the most valuable public companies in the world – making Mr. Bezos the richest man in the world -, Amazon has achieved a total business turnover of $ 235 billion online l & rsquo; Last year.

In Germany, the Verdi union said more than 2,000 workers at seven sites were on strike under the logo "More reduction on our income".

"While Amazon encourages bargain hunting on Prime Day with substantial discounts, employees are deprived of a living wage," said Orhan Akman, Verdi's retail specialist. .

In the UK, GMB officials handed out leaflets to workers arriving at the Peterborough site in the East Midlands. Demonstrations are expected in the coming days, in Swansea and Rugeley, in the West Midlands.

GMB national manager Mick Rix said: "Amazon workers want Jeff Bezos to know that they are not robots. It's high time for Amazon to meet around the table with GMB. and discuss ways to make workplaces safer and give their workers and their voice independence ".

While the GMB did not call buyers to boycott Amazon, he said customers could act.

"We are not asking for economic damage for Amazon," he said. "What we are asking is that people be aware, leave comments on Amazon".

In response, Amazon said that it "offered excellent job opportunities with excellent pay".

He encouraged people to compare his operations in Shakopee with other employees in the area.

In the UK, a spokesman said the company was offering peak pay starting at £ 9.50 at the time and was "the employer of choice for thousands of people across the Kingdom." -United".

He stated that his German operations offered wages "at the higher end of what is paid for comparable jobs" and that he "saw a very limited participation" [in strikes] in Germany with zero operational impact and therefore no impact on customer deliveries ".