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Article

27 Nov 2020

Author:
Lauren Kaori Gurley, VICE

Amazon warehouse workers stage coordinated Black Friday protests in 15 countries as part of #MakeAmazonPay day of action

"Amazon Workers to Stage Coordinated Black Friday Protests in 15 Countries", 26 November 2020

On Friday, Amazon warehouse workers and social and environmental justice activists around the world will stage a series of coordinated protests, strikes, and actions to demand the online retailer respect workers' rights to participate in union activity, stop circumventing tax laws, and commit to higher environmental standards, according to the event's organizers.  

The day of action, which is being called #MakeAmazonPay, coincides with Black Friday, one of Amazon's biggest sales events of the year and the start of its peak season, when warehouse worker injuries are highest and workloads for warehouse workers and delivery drivers skyrocket... [P]rotest actions will take place across Amazon's supply chain in Brazil, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Poland, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Australia.  

As many as 3,000 workers will strike at six Amazon facilities in Germany. Garment workers in Bangladesh who manufacture clothes sold by Amazon will also protest. Trade union members and environmental groups... will demonstrate outside Amazon's European headquarters in Luxembourg. In the Philippines, contracted Amazon Ring call center workers, who face 'subhuman' conditions... will hold a virtual action. At Amazon's Seattle and Northern Virginia headquarters, community activists from social justice organizations... will hold their own protests... The actions coalesce around a common set of demands put forward by more than 50 social justice organizations...

“This is a series of misleading assertions by misinformed or self-interested groups who are using Amazon’s profile to further their individual causes,”... a spokesperson for Amazon... said. “Amazon has a strong track record of supporting our people... including providing safe working conditions and leading $15 minimum wage and great benefits, leading on climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, and paying more than $5 billion in taxes globally.”...

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