Black Friday Trouble in Europe for Warehouse Workers

Black Friday has been the focus of a lot of negative press over the past few years, and this one is no different. The focus turned to Europe this year, with walkouts at six Amazon distribution centres. Five of the centres were in Germany, and one was in Italy, and the walkouts were timed purposefully to happen on Black Friday – which is one of the biggest shopping days of the year across the world.

The walkout was in protest of salary, which is currently thought to be far too low. 2,500 workers staged the walkout, in search of what they described as “dignified salaries.”

The workers’ union responsible for the walkouts, which is based in Germany, has been pushing for wage rises since 2013, when it emerged that 12,000 employees received lower salaries than others working in similar retail and mail order positions. Amazon responded to this by stating that the employees in question worked in a logistics centre, rather than in a retail role, and that the wages paid were commonplace in the industry for such jobs.

Germany’s branch of the retail giant said that they believed themselves to be fair and responsible to all of their employees. They also insisted that the walkouts would not have any impact on their ability to continue to provide a top quality customer service, and to fulfil all orders on time.

Italy’s strike was a one-day event, which was thought to carry a huge symbolic message – in that although progress in the industry is indeed necessary, it can’t come at the expense of workers. Full-time workers were the ones who staged the walk-out in Italy, with the part time and casual workers staying on site to fulfil any orders that were placed in the meantime. Amazon defends itself, stating that it has created more than 2,000 full time jobs in Italy in recent years, which is helping to address the ongoing issue of unemployment.

There is a chance that this action could trigger others to fight for what they believe they are owed.  Although in the UK, Amazon workers are said to be far happier than their European counterparts.