With just a week to go before Christmas, workers at two Amazon distribution centres in Germany have gone on strike as part of a push for improved working conditions, raising concerns for the retail giant.
The trade union in the country, Verdi called on Amazon employees of the mail-order centre Saxony in Leipzig and Werne in western Germany to strike until Christmas Eve, as part of a long- running campaign for better pay and conditions.
A Verdi spokesman said that the strike could soon be extended to other locations in Germany and for a longer period.
“We have repeatedly given Amazon more time to react to our demands. We will see whether their promises to customers to delivery parcels punctually by Christmas Eve can be met.” – Thomas Schneider, Verdi representative
The trade union has been arguing that the retailer raises pay for warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements in Germany’s mail order and retail industry and has been organizing frequent strikes for the same since 2013.
Amazon has said in the past that its employees earn relatively high wages and the payment given is at the top of what is customary in the logistics industry.
Amazon have 10 warehouses in Bad Hersfeld, Leipzig, Werne, Rheinberg, Graben, Koblenz, Pforzheim, Brieselang, Dortmund and Winsen in Germany and the country is its second- biggest market after the United States.
