"Amazon Will Face Black Friday Strikes and Protests in 20 Countries", 18 November 2021

On Black Friday, a group of unions and grassroots organizations, known as the Make Amazon Pay Coalition, will stage coordinated protests and strikes in at least 20 countries to demand Amazon pay workers a living wage, respect their right to join unions, pay its fair share of taxes, and commit to meaningful environmental sustainability...

The Make Amazon Pay coalition launched last year...when it unveiled a set of common demands from 50 social justice organizations...Since then, the coalition has swelled to more than 70 unions, grassroots organizations, tax watchdogs, and environmentalist groups...

In addition to the countries listed above, Black Friday actions will take place in Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Ireland, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia...

Kelly Nantel, director of national media relations at Amazon, told Motherboard, “These groups represent a variety of interests, and while we’re not perfect in any area, if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing in each one of these areas you’ll see that we take our role and our impact very seriously. We are inventing and investing significantly in all these areas, playing a significant role in addressing climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, continuing to offer competitive wages and great benefits, and inventing new ways to keep our employees safe and healthy in our operations network, to name just a few...”

Nantel added that Amazon’s average starting wage is more than $18 an hour, depending on location, and that Amazon hired more workers in 2020 than any other company in the United States...

Across Italy, as many as 15,000 Amazon delivery drivers....will strike for 24-hours...workers will demand lighter workloads, a reduction of weekly working hours, performance bonuses, and new privacy rules on data management and surveillance...

In the United Kingdom, GMB...will stage protests at a number of worksites across the country...Workers are demanding union recognition from Amazon...

In Bangladesh, two unions representing garment workers who produce for Amazon's private labels will mobilize in the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong. Meanwhile, in Cambodia, garment factory workers from the Hulu Garment factory which supplied for Amazon and Adidas until it shuttered in March 2020, will demonstrate to ensure they are paid $3.6 million in severance.

In Cape Town, South Africa, a community organization will protest at the construction site of Amazon’s so-called River Club real development, the future home of Africa’s Amazon headquarters.

In addition to protests and strikes planned around the world, Make Amazon Pay has chosen eight locations to represent Amazon’s abuses and unity and resistance to the tech behemoth, where actions will also take place...