As Amazon workers in the U.S. prepare to leave their posts in protest of working conditions, they will be joined by employees across Europe striking during the company’s biggest shopping event of the year.
The protests from Amazon employees in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Poland coincide with Prime Day, a 48-hour sale named for the Prime membership that gives Amazon shoppers who pay an annual fee perks including free deliveries. The striking workers across Europe are calling for safer work conditions and better pay, and demonstrations in some countries are expected to span two days.
“Amazon needs to understand that human beings are not robots,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. “By doubling Prime Day’s duration and halving the delivery time, the company is testing hundreds of thousands of workers’ physical limits as though they were trained triathletes. This is plain wrong.”
The demonstrations from Amazon workers in Europe come as more than 200 employees at the e-commerce giant’s distribution center in Shakopee, Minnesota, are planning to leave their posts over a six-hour span Monday in protest of working conditions there.
Amazon, however, has said it has already met the demands of the Shakopee workers, including by offering higher pay and comprehensive benefits. The company boosted its hourly minimum wage for its 250,000 U.S. employees to $15 in December.
Protests are also planned for Seattle and San Francisco, and activists are expected to deliver petitions to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ New York City home over the conditions at its warehouses and relationship with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Like Amazon employees in Minnesota, workers in Germany and the United Kingdom are pushing for better work conditions. Employees across seven warehouses in Germany began striking Sunday night and plan to do so for two days.
In Spain, meanwhile, employees will be holding a two-day demonstration outside Amazon’s warehouse near Madrid. Members of the country’s largest union will then join protesters in the United Kingdom on Friday for a rally outside Amazon’s Rugeley facility.
Strikes in Poland began Monday and are expected to continue until workers reach a collective agreement with Amazon. The company said in May it was engaged in talks with workers in Poland, who are pushing for higher wages.
An Amazon spokesperson said Prime Day and other events like it have provided unions with an opportunity to raise awareness for increased membership dues.
“These groups are conjuring misinformation to work in their favor, when in fact we already offer the things they purport to be their cause — industry leading pay, benefits and a safe workplace for our employees,” the spokesperson said. “We can only conclude that the people who plan to attend the events are simply not informed.”
