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Article

27 Nov 2020

Author:
Isobel Asher Hamilton, Business Insider

Global coalition of Amazon workers, unions and activists stage Black Friday protests, calling for fair pay, right to unionise, and end to contracts with fossil-fuel industries

“Amazon workers and activism groups are staging Black Friday protests around the world, while the company tries to placate workers with $300 holiday bonuses’, 27 November 2020

A coalition of unions, human-rights organizations, and environmentalist groups on Friday launched a global protest of the e-commerce giant called "Make Amazon Pay."

In a statement sent to Business Insider, Make Amazon Pay said there were actions planned for 15 countries: Brazil, Mexico, the US, the UK, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Poland, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Australia.

In Germany, Amazon workers in seven warehouses went on strike, while in Bangladesh garment workers protested outside an Amazon supplier facility in Dhaka.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider it was inaccurate that Amazon has not paid suppliers in Bangladesh.

In the UK, the GMB workers' union … called for a parliamentary investigation into "dehumanising" working conditions in the company's warehouses.

On Thursday, Amazon announced it was giving a total of $500 million in holiday bonuses to its frontline workers, translating to $300 for full-time employees and $150 for part-time employees.

Christy Hoffman, the general secretary of UNI Global Union, told Business Insider that the bonuses did not represent a meaningful change.

A UK-based Amazon worker who spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity also said the holiday bonus doesn't go far enough.

In response to the protests, an Amazon representative told Business Insider: "This is a series of misleading assertions by misinformed or self-interested groups who are using Amazon's profile to further their individual causes."

It added: "Amazon has a strong track record of supporting our employees, our customers, and our communities, including providing safe working conditions, competitive wages and great benefits, leading on climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, and paying billions pounds in taxes globally."

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