If Amazon packages arrive slowly this week, it may be due to one of several protests against the company on Black Friday.
Amazon is coming under immense pressure from climate activists and union employees on one of the busiest days of the year. The effort is being advanced by Make Amazon Pay, a coalition of 70 organizations pushing for the Big Tech company to improve working conditions and wages, for which Amazon has been regularly criticized.
“The coalition demands Amazon pays its workers fairly and respects their right to join unions, pays its fair share of taxes, and commits to real environmental sustainability,” the Make Amazon Pay coalition said in a statement.
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Make Amazon Pay has organized protests in 20 countries, including France, the United Kingdom, India, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
Climate activists from “Extinction Rebellion” targeted 13 Amazon fulfillment centers in the U.K., along with protests in Germany and the Netherlands. The activists locked themselves together at some sites and used bamboo structures to disrupt the distribution network. The protesters blocked the warehouse entrance while holding banners that read “infinite growth, finite planet.” Extinction Rebellion’s actions are separate from Make Amazon Pay but appear to have similar goals.
An Amazon spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that it takes its responsibilities “very seriously.”
That includes “our commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040 — 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement — providing excellent pay and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, and supporting the tens of thousands of British small businesses who sell on our store.”
The spokesperson continued, “We know there is always more to do, and we’ll continue to invent and invest on behalf of our employees, customers, small businesses, and communities in the U.K. We’re proud to have invested £32bn in the U.K. since 2010, creating 10,000 new permanent jobs across the country this year alone, and generating a total U.K. tax contribution of £1.55bn in 2020.”
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Amazon employees in the United States have made several attempts to unionize, with mixed effects. Amazon warehouse employees have also been seriously injured more frequently than other warehouse workers.
