The topic of poor working conditions at Amazon is boomeranging back. This time, employees and members of a coalition of Make Amazon Pay and employee rights organizations will hold coordinated protests in which the corporation could be seriously hurt.
Amazon is well known for its approach to the employee, whom it views as just another number on the sheet. The company’s priority is to ensure more than just the well-being of employees, who in some places around the world are not properly paid. In 2019 alone, there were about 14,000 serious injuries among Amazon employees while on the job. Employees and various associations have been trying for some time to influence the corporation to improve working conditions at the company.
According to Vice, this time the Make Amazon Pay coalition will strike where the corporation could be seriously hurt. This Friday will be Black Friday, a day when citizens in the U.S. and more and more countries can expect significant price reductions. In the U.S., it is the most profitable day of the year for retailers: on November 26, coordinated protests and strikes will take place at Amazon facilities in more than 20 countries at once.
Actions by the Make Amazon Pay coalition will include a supplier strike in Italy, a work stoppage at French warehouses, demonstrations at the construction site of the new office, and worker protests in Bangladesh and Cambodia. In addition to these countries, workers from Canada and Argentina will also join the protests, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, England, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Ireland, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and India, news of the planned protests also reached Amazon headquarters.
“These groups represent a wide variety of interests, and we are not perfect on any of these levels. If you look objectively at what Amazon is doing in each of these areas, you can clearly see our role and influence. We find and invest in new solutions in each of these areas, we play a significant role in combating climate change […] we offer competitive rates and great benefits,” said Kelly Nantel, Amazon’s director of media relations.
