News

German Amazon workers will be marking World Health day by going on strike at six Amazon warehouses including Bad Hersfeld, Leipzig, Rheinberg, Werne, Digging and Koblenz. Workers are demanding much needed improvements to their working conditions and want to see their health and safety protected by a collective agreement with the company.

Head of UNI Commerce, Alke Boessiger said, “With the combination of constant performance assessment and monitoring, divisive management culture, insufficient recovery time and relentless pressure from the company to achieve higher goals in less time, the working culture at Amazon is incredibly unhealthy. We fully support German Amazon workers decision to strike for better health and safety at work on World Health Day.”

“Amazon have demonstrated numerous times that it does not take the health and safety of its employees seriously. Healthy work is a human right and collective agreements are an essential way to guarantee the health and safety of working conditions. The workers are on strike because they cannot be exposed to the whims and poor business practices of Amazon at the expense of their own health,” said ver.di board member Stefanie Nutzenberger.

Workers regularly complain that working at Amazon threatens their health in both the short-term and long-term. Employees have repeatedly come to the company with concrete solutions to some of the health problems, but Amazon has refused to engage in meaningful dialogue with workers and trade unions.

At all the strike locations, workers will vote via a public survey on the specific problems and demands they wish Amazon to urgently address.