It seems that Amazon employees over at German warehouses have decided to go on strike, asking for an increase in their pay as well as work conditions. This strike will last, at the bare minimum, until at December 20th, although the company does not want to leave Santa and his elves sweating with the promise that all Christmas orders will be delivered on time.
This strike can be said to have been brewing for a long time, where a long-running dispute that begun in May last year saw the union demand that Amazon fork out wages that are on par with employees in the mail order and retail industries. Amazon has naturally turned away such demands, citing that warehouse employees are classified as logistics workers, and whatever they are earning right now happen to be above average for its class.
In a rally which saw over 1,000 Amazon employees group together, the union mentioned, “Your courage and your determination will bring Amazon to the negotiating table. You are an example to the whole country.”
According to the union, six out of nine Amazon warehouses in Germany have joined the movement, where there are over 2,600 employees involved. As a form of rebuttal, Amazon singled out the fact that it has close to 10,000 regular employees at its warehouses in Germany alone, and this figure would double during seasonal times in order to meet delivery demands, and it can call upon its “reserves” from 19 other warehouses that are located across Europe just in case there is a shortfall. Customers, fret not – the grinch, and union, will not spoil this Christmas.
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