As Black Friday sales continue, thousands of warehouse workers strike across 40 nations to ‘make Amazon Pay’ better wages to employees. Here is all about the ongoing demands.
What is the ‘Make Amazon Pay’ movement?
With the ‘Make Amazon Pay,’ movement, workers in India, the US, the UK, Australia, Japan, and Europe are demanding the retail giant improve working conditions and pay for employees. “It’s time for the tech giant to cease their awful, unsafe practices immediately, respect the law and negotiate with the workers who want to make their jobs better,” stated Chriss Hoffman. Hoffman is the general secretary for UNI Global Union.
In Germany and France, unions are leading the strike at 18 major warehouses. They are aiming to halt shipments from the European markets to get their point across. On the other hand workers in the UK affiliated with the GMB union are striking outside several warehouses. Senior organizers from the GMB union revealed, about a hundred employees are seeking a salary hike to 15 pounds. Currently, their salaries are 10.5 pounds per hour. Amazon workers from over 10 US cities are also conducting rallies and protests. Additionally, there will be a strike outside Jeff Bezos’ New York apartment.
More on the strikes across the world
Several reports reveal similar protests are scheduled in India and Tokyo. Additionally, Bangladeshi textile workers are planning to hold strikes in Chittagong and Dhaka, hoping Amazon will pay them a fair wage. The e-commerce giant laid about 10,000 workers earlier this year. However, Amazon has also been struggling with employee unrest as claims of unfair work practices and pay is rising.
“While we are not perfect in any area if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing on these important matters you’ll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously,” stated a spokesperson for the firm. They added that Amazon is also offering benefits and competitive wages.