Workers at the warehouses of US e-commerce giant Amazon were called out to strike by the labour union Verdi on Monday, over a dispute related to pay and conditions.
Verdi said in its statement that works at six of the nine warehouses would join the strike, set to run until December 24th at four centres, and less at the others.
Germany is Amazon’s second largest market after the US, with 10,000 warehouse staff and an additional 10,000 workers during the festive season.
A spokesperson for Verdi said the union expects similar numbers of workers to join as in previous strikes, when hundreds walked out at several warehouses. According to Reuters, an Amazon representative said only a small number of staff were on strike.
“There is absolutely no impact on our customer delivery promise. The vast majority of our employees are working”, they said, noting that the retailer uses 29 warehouses across Europe to fulfill orders.
Verdi has helped to organise several strikes at Amazon since 2013, as it aim to force the company to raise pay to reflect agreements in Germany’s mail order and retail industry.
Amazon has in the past rejected the union’s demands, and has said warehouse staff are logistics workers and that they receive above average pay compared with the industry standards.
SOURCE: Reuters.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.