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Workers from Amazon stores in several European countries took to the streets to protest what they called "inhumane" working conditions.
In the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, workers walked the streets with placards stating "Treated like a robot at Amazon" and "We are not robots". According to the Washington Post, some left the job deliberately wanting to organize their event. for Black Friday, the busiest day of the year of purchases.
"The working conditions of our members at Amazon are downright inhuman," said Tim Roache, secretary general of the GMB union in the UK, in a statement released Wednesday.
"They break their bones, are stunned and taken away in ambulances. We get up and say enough, these are people who make money to Amazon. People with children, houses, bills to pay – they are not robots. "
In May, a request for access to GMB's information revealed that ambulances had been called in at least 115 times an Amazon warehouse located in the city of Rugeley, England, according to the Guardian. Three of these calls were related to maternity or pregnancy issues, and three involved "major trauma," the outlet said.
In total, GMB found that ambulances had been called to Amazon's UK warehouses 600 times in total in three years.
"Hundreds of ambulance calls, pregnant women tell us that they are forced to stand for 10 hours a day, pick up, stow, stretch and bend, pull heavy carts and travel for miles." – even miscarriages and pregnancy problems at work. None of this happens in a safe and enjoyable work environment, "GMB National Officer Guardian Mick Rix said.
Amazon officials stated that the allegation did not present "a faithful description of the activities in our buildings".
These Amazonian workers from around the world have come together to send a message to Jeff Bezos. We are not robots, treat us with dignity and respect.
Share their message in the distance ?#AmazonWeAreNotRobots pic.twitter.com/1uVjRO5jpG
– GMB UNION (@GMB_union) November 24, 2018
At the San Fernando logistics center in Madrid, Spain, the workers organized their fourth major event to demand better working conditions and an increase in their pay, chanting: "We will not accept a reduction in our rights" .
"It's our biggest pressure [action] to date, told the Spanish newspaper El Diario Marc Blanes, union leader of the CGT.
Amazon issued a statement in response to the protest, saying that "most of the morning workers at the Amazon Logistics Center in San Fernando de Henares work and process customer orders."
@AmazonESP Paralizada in San Fernando de Henares # black Friday porque @AmazonEnLucha defavores a convenio digno for the plantilla #HuelgaAmazon pic.twitter.com/XLLzOJKLnk
– CCOO-FSC Madrid (@CCOO_FSCMadrid) November 23, 2018
According to the strike officials, however, at least 90 percent of workers at the San Fernando factory joined the protest. Douglas Harper, of the CCOO trade union confederation, told The Associated Press that there were only two people left on the loading dock.
"This is one of the days when Amazon has the most sales, and these are days when we can hurt ourselves more and make ourselves heard, because the company has not listened to us and does not want to reach an agreement ", he added. The employee Eduardo Hernandez, who joined the strike, told AP reporters.
Workers at distribution centers in Rheinberg and Bad Hersfeld, Germany, also staged protests on Friday to demand higher wages, the latest manifestation of a long-standing union effort.
"We have a global problem, a boss who wants to impose American working conditions on the world," said Frank TheSlank, union leader Verdi representing Amazon workers, at The Local newspaper in Denmark. "It's like going back to the 19th century."
Workers rallied in front of German publishing group Axel Springer, parent company of Business Insider, where Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, was to receive a prize for business innovation this week carrying signs saying "Make Bezos pay."
Amazon employees from Italy, France and Poland also participated in the event.
The local, Amazon, which has about 560,000 employees, reported a profit of about $ 3 billion last year.
The National Retail Federation expects more than 164 million people to shop between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, roughly the same number as in 2017. However, sales e-commerce is expected to jump 15% this holiday season, as consumers abandon their path. stores for online retail giants like Amazon.
According to Adobe, at 10 am Eastern Time, Black Friday, online spending had exploded by nearly 30% from last year's total. NPR has announced that online spending is expected to reach $ 6.4 billion by the end of the day, with an additional $ 3.7 billion from Thanksgiving Day the day before.
In response to this trend, Target and Walmart are organizing to compete with the two-day Amazon Delivery Incentive. Amazon has not missed a beat, however, announcing recently that it would offer premium subscribers a free delivery the same day on even more items during the holiday season.
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