For the fourth year in a row on Black Friday, labor unions and other groups organized an international single-day strike by Amazon workers. 


What You Need To Know

  • For the fourth year in a row on Black Friday, labor unions and other groups organized an international single-day strike by Amazon workers

  • Make Amazon Pay, a coalition of dozens of wide-ranging organizations, said demonstrations were expected in 30 countries and eight states in the U.S.

  • According to Make Amazon Pay’s website, the workers are calling for the e-commerce giant to pay higher wages, its fair share of taxes and for its environmental impact

  • Amazon spokeswoman Mary Kate Paradis said in a statement to Spectrum News that the vast majority of the claims made by the organizations “are false or misinformed"

Make Amazon Pay, a coalition of dozens of wide-ranging organizations, said demonstrations were expected in 30 countries and eight states in the U.S.

According to Make Amazon Pay’s website, the workers are calling for the e-commerce giant to pay higher wages, its fair share of taxes and for its environmental impact. 

“From the warehouses in Coventry [England] to the factories of Dhaka [Bangladesh], this Global Day of Action is more than a protest. It is a worldwide declaration that this age of abuse must end,” Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, one of the main organizations behind the strike, said in a statement. “Amazon’s globe-spanning empire, which exploits workers, our communities and our planet, now faces a growing globe-spanning movement to Make Amazon Pay.”

The protesting groups argue that many of Amazon’s employees work in a high-pressure environment that ultimately forces them to quit, that the company does not pay what it should in taxes and that Amazon is not doing nearly enough to move toward net-zero emissions.

Amazon spokeswoman Mary Kate Paradis said in a statement to Spectrum News that the vast majority of the claims made by the organizations “are false or misinformed.”

“The fact is Amazon has created millions of good jobs, while helping create and support hundreds of thousands of small businesses around the world,” Paradis said. “We offer great pay and benefits for our employees, with great career opportunities, and provide a modern and safe working environment for all. We continue to invest in the countries and communities where we operate, and we’re proud to be the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. That’s part of our drive to be net zero carbon by 2040, with billions already invested in packaging reduction, clean energy and electric vehicles.”

The trade union Verdi estimated that about 2,000 workers across six Amazon facilities in Germany walked off the job Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Reuters reported

Hundreds of Amazon workers locked in a pay dispute with the company picketed outside its Coventry site, according to BBC. The union GMB is calling for minimum pay of 15 pounds [$18.69] per hour and better working conditions.

In Italy, the union CGIL reported that more than 60% of workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Castel San Giovanni were striking, although the company said 86% of its workers there reported for work, according to Reuters.  

In the U.S., picketing was planned in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina and Washington state.

“This day of action grows every year because the movement to hold Amazon accountable keeps getting bigger and stronger,” Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union, one of the other groups leading the strike, said in a statement. “Workers know that it doesn’t matter what country you’re in or what your job title is, we are all united in the fight for higher wages, an end to unreasonable quotas, and a voice on the job.”