Amazon asked the Spanish police to intervene in the warehouse strike

Amazon has asked the Spanish police to intervene in a mass strike in a warehouse in the suburbs of Madrid, according to local reports.

Amazon wanted a police presence at the warehouse to ensure high productivity in the distribution center, while workers organized their event outside, according to the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial.

A source from the Spanish trade union CCOO, who helped coordinate the strikes, told Business Insider that Amazon "wanted to send the police inside the warehouse to push people to work. "

Amazon firmly denied these claims and called it "the worst kind of misinformation".

The conflict erupted as thousands of Amazon workers in Europe staged strikes on Black Friday to protest the working conditions in the warehouses. Some 1,600 staff members went to Spain.

Read more: "We are not robots": thousands of Amazon workers in Europe strike black Friday on working conditions in warehouses

Spanish newspaper El Confidencial reported that Amazon had met with police officials after the strike was announced. He wanted local officials "to force employees into their respective jobs and to ensure that their performance is identical to that of a normal day's work".

Amazon's request "stunned" by the police, according to El Confidencial. "The demand was categorically rejected by the police, who claimed that controlling labor productivity was not within their powers," said a police source.

Law enforcement officials reportedly told Amazon that Spanish law protected workers' right to strike. They told the company that the police would be present at the strike but would be limited to keeping the peace.

AP

Amazon denied having asked the police to intervene in the strike. A spokeswoman told Business Insider:

"Amazon is a responsible company that gives priority to its customers and associates, and we always work with public authorities, including the police, to keep our employees and our operations safe.

"However, any suggestion to inappropriately use this relationship is categorically wrong – anyone who understands how businesses and local authorities work works, will know that these ridiculous suggestions are the worst kind of misinformation."

The Madrid police was not available to comment.

This is not the first time that Amazon is asking police to intervene in protests against Amazon's warehouse in Spain, says El Confidencial. During the workers' strike on the first day of July, Amazon asked the police to guarantee access to workers crossing the picket line and trucks carrying goods. The July strikes led to clashes with the police, including arrests.