Hundreds of workers at Amazon distribution facilities in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig in Germany havegone on a day-long strike today in protest at the company’s refusal to resume wage and salary
negotiations.The strike, called by the German postal and transport union, Verdi, is taking place from 6 amwith the start of the early shift until the end of the late shift. The union claimed that severalhundred workers at each of the two sites had joined in the industrial action. Customers are likelyto face delayed deliveries as a result of the strike, according to German media.
Verdi wants the world’s largest online retailer to introduce pay agreements in Bad Hersfeldand Leipzig similar to those common in retail and distance trade, to be secured by a recognisedcollective labour agreement. In the initial ballots at the two locations 97 per cent of the Verdimembers already voted in favour of strikes to enforce the labour agreement.
Jörg Lauenroth-Mago, a local representative of the Verdi union and its chief negotiator,said: “If so many Amazon employees are willing to strike, it means a very clear vote anddemonstrates their determination. It is not acceptable that Amazon is not subject to a collectivelabour agreement as the largest online retailer.”
For the 3,300 Amazon workers in Bad Hersfeld and around 2,000 staff in Leipzig, Verdi isseeking, among other things, a negotiated Christmas allowance, holiday pay and a night shift bonus,as it is the case in the industry.
Not a single Amazon site in Germany has been bound by a collective pay commitment yet withAmazon paying its workers based on its own pay system which varies according to the location and isbelow the retail sector tariffs in Saxony and Hessen. The starting wage for workers at the Leipzigfacility amounts to €9.30 per hour. But according to the mail-order tariffs, Amazon is supposed topay €10.66. In Hesse, the starting wage at Amazon is at €9.83 but should be €12.18, Verdi stressed.
“Amazon workers do a good job every day and need to perform under extremely high pressure.They deserve that their employment and income conditions are finally secured by appropriatecollective agreements,” Lauenroth-Mago added.
According to German media, the online retailer stated: “Amazon’s distribution centres arelogistics companies carrying out customer orders. The pay level of workers at Amazon’s Germanlogistic centres is at the upper end of what is common in the logistics industry.” The companydescribed the facility at Bad Hersfeld as “a pure shipping facility”, adding “our employees carryout logistics tasks – picking, packing and dispatch of goods.”
The working conditions at Amazon’s facilities in Bad Hersfeld came under the spotlight in adocumentary on German television in February this year which criticised poor treatment of seasonalforeign workers.
