Nearly 50 organizations including Amazon workers in 20 countries, are planning protests and work stoppages for Black Friday.
The protests are aimed at bringing forward their demands, which relate to pay and other social benefits, including: increasing the wages of warehouse workers, hazard pay increase and increasing peak time increments; ending “surveillance” and strict productivity targets for workers; extending sick leave and improving COVID-19 tracking and reporting; ending casual employment status and “union-busting” activities; paying taxes without loopholes or tax havens.
While it is illegal for workers in the U.K. to protest as there is no union, workers in other countries are advised to protest.
Owen Espley, a member of one of the protest groups, said of the planned protests: “Amazon is abusing its dominance across online retail, cloud services, and logistics, to create unfair competition that is driving down standards for everyone. Amazon workers face unsafe conditions, constant surveillance and are treated like robots. It’s time for Amazon to pay fair wages, fair taxes, and for its impact on the planet.”