Amazon workers in 20 countries protest or strike on Black Friday | Black Friday

Thousands of Amazon workers are expected to protest or strike on Black Friday in more than 20 countries to demand better labor rights and climate action from the US retailer.

Workers and representatives from unions and employee groups plan to join protests against the Seattle-based company’s practices between Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday (November 29 and December 2), one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.

During the annual discount period, Amazon and many other retailers offer special offers to shoppers, and warehouse employees are busy fulfilling orders.

Actions are planned in major cities in the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Turkey, Canada, India, Japan, Brazil and other countries. It is coordinated by the Make Amazon Pay campaign, which calls on Amazon – founded by Jeff Bezos, the world’s second richest man – to pay its workers fairly and respect their right to join unions, pay its fair share of taxes and to commit to environmental sustainability.

Make Amazon Pay is led by the Switzerland-based UNI Global Union for Service Industries and activist umbrella group Progressive International and includes more than 80 unions, anti-poverty and garment workers’ rights groups and others.

Protests are planned outside Amazon’s UK headquarters in Bishopsgate, London, on Black Friday, when British tax justice activists and other groups will deliver a petition with more than 110,000 signatures to the company, followed by a march to 11 Downing Street. The petitioners are calling on the Chancellor to stop tax relief for Amazon UK and other large corporations.

Last year, Amazon’s main UK division paid corporation tax for the first time since 2020 after the “super deduction” tax break introduced by former prime minister Rishi Sunak expired.

The UK-based GMB union plans to hold an online rally of Amazon workers on Black Friday. Last year on Black Friday, hundreds of strikers outside the Amazon warehouse in Coventry were joined by unionists from Germany, Italy and California, as part of a global campaign demanding better working conditions and union recognition.

Amanda Gearing, a senior organizer at GMB, said: “Here in the UK, Amazon represents everything that is broken in our economy. Insecure work, poverty wages and often unsafe working conditions: GMB will not allow these to shape the world of work over the next decade.”

In Germany, thousands of members of the Ver.di union will strike in warehouses in Dortmund, Leipzig, Koblenz, Graben, Werne, Bad Hersfeld and Rheinberg.

In France, the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizens’ Actions (ATTAC), which advocates for tax justice, will hold protests in several cities. This is the fifth year of the Make Amazon Pay protests.

“Amazon’s relentless pursuit of profits comes at the expense of workers, the environment and democracy,” he said Christy Hoffman, the general secretary of UNI Global Union.

“Bezos’ company has spent untold millions to discourage workers from organizing, but strikes and protests around the world show that workers’ desire for justice – for union representation – cannot be stopped. We collectively demand that Amazon treats its employees fairly, respects fundamental rights and stops undermining the systems that are designed to protect us all.”

An Amazon spokesperson said: “These groups represent diverse interests, and while we are always listening and looking for ways to improve, we are proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits and engaging, safe work experience we provide our teams.”

Amazon says it is the world’s largest purchaser of renewable energy and sourced all of its electricity from renewable energy sources last year. It is said that the starting salary in the UK is at least £28,000 per year for four day weekly shifts.

Campaign group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice says the company has no interim targets to reach its net-zero emissions target by 2040 and that its annual carbon emissions have increased by 34.5% since 2019.

At Amazon’s Coventry warehouse in July, workers narrowly voted against union recognition, but the TUC insisted the fight for union recognition would continue.