Union Chief Verdi Advocates Black Friday Strike at Select German Amazon Centers
In a bold move set to disruption, trade union Verdi has urged workers at five Amazon sites in Germany, including Koblenz, to stage an all-night blackout strike on the eve of Black Friday. The strike is scheduled to initiate across Bad Hersfeld, Leipzig, Rheinberg near Duisburg, and Dortmund logistics centers, as announced by the union on Thursday. Amazon, however, assures customers of delivery continuity, citing its vast logistics network that spans 20 centers throughout Germany.
Verdi's unrelenting campaign for Amazon's recognition of applicable collective bargaining agreements in the German retail sector has been unsuccessful for over a decade. The US e-commerce giant, on the other hand, maintains that its German workforce enjoys fair wages and additional benefits, despite continuous union calls for work stoppages.
Amazon's vast logistics network provides ample support for traditional retail sales and online distribution, enabling customers to expect undisrupted deliveries amid the union-backed strike. The company boasts an uninterrupted track record of timely deliveries in spite of labor disputes and union advocacy, attributing its success to internal measures to improve working conditions rather than collective bargaining.
While the e-commerce giant has faced labor struggles and unionization campaigns in Europe and the US, specific details about Amazon's Black Friday strike response remain unavailable.
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Sideline notes:
- Verdi's labor strife largely focuses on Deutsche Post, with workers pressuring for a 7% wage hike and additional paid leave for approximately 170,000 employees. The pandemic exacerbated wage pressures, propelling unions to call for strikes as a response to rising living costs and unaffordable pay demands. [2][5]
- Amazon has faced unionization efforts in multiple countries, including Europe and the US. While some Amazon warehouses in Europe have unionized, workers have staged strikes for better wages and conditions. [1]
- Amazon's stance on labor disputes is to resist unionization and improve working conditions through internal measures such as surveillance and workplace changes, rather than engaging in collective bargaining. This approach has led to accusations of union busting. [1]
