Amazon Black Friday 2018 turns into a protest day for workers in Europe



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For most Americans, the Friday after Thanksgiving means a great day of shopping.

Now the Black Friday tradition has begun to spread in the UK and parts of Europe, and international retailers are gearing up for the big event.

Amazon, for example, stores shelves and has hired thousands of seasonal workers in anticipation of the holiday season. According to CNBC, citizens across the UK have already purchased Amazon-based items at record levels, with 100,000 toys and 60,000 beauty items purchased in the middle of Friday morning.

But there is at least one group of people who do not have such a positive feeling towards Black Friday, or Amazon, from elsewhere, and who use the quasi-party to show it. Amazon employees have predicted that protests across Europe will coincide with Black Friday to protest what they call unfair labor conditions.

Amazon Amazon workers are preparing for Black Friday and Christmas on November 13, 2018 in Swansea, Wales, as the American tradition leaps to the water. (Photo by Matthew Horwood / Getty Images)

Amazon Amazon workers are preparing for Black Friday and Christmas on November 13, 2018 in Swansea, Wales, as the American tradition leaps to the water. (Photo by Matthew Horwood / Getty Images)

Not all Amazon employees in Europe plan to participate, but those involved hope their action will disrupt the e-commerce giant's Black Friday operations to a certain extent. For example, about 90% of workers at a logistics depot near Madrid left on Friday morning, according to the same source. Associated press.

Workers' demonstrations or strikes are also planned or reported in France, Germany, Poland and Italy. In France, environmentalists also held a protest outside the Amazon headquarters, accusing the company of encouraging over-consumption. About 40 people threw old electronics and appliances outside Amazon's office to protest the sale of Black Friday.

In the UK, the GMB union helped organize protests in five distribution centers to protest the security situation. GMB Secretary General Tim Roache said buzzfeed Earlier this week, Amazon employees are working in "inhumane" conditions and the protest is intended to send a message to the company stating that "that's enough, that's enough." ".

"People with children, houses, bills to pay – they are not robots," he said. "Jeff Bezos is the richest guy on the planet. he can afford to solve this problem. Everyone thinks making the workplace safer to keep people out of the warehouse in an ambulance is in everyone's interest, but Amazon apparently has no desire to go around the table. as a union representing hundreds of its employees. "

Amazon did not return immediately FortuneRequest for comments on the protestors' allegations.

Similarly, Amazon workers in Europe have staged a rally alongside Prime Day during the summer.

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