Amazon Workers in Germany to Go on Strike Over Coronavirus Infections

Amazon has faced a long-running battle with unions in Germany over better pay and conditions for logistics workers, who have staged frequent strikes since 2013.

By Reuters | Updated: 29 June 2020 10:40 IST

Amazon Workers in Germany to Go on Strike Over Coronavirus Infections

Amazon has faced criticism over its handling of the coronavirus crisis internally

Highlights

Workers at six Amazon sites in Germany will go on strike on Monday
The strike could last 48 hours
Amazon has been accused of putting profit ahead of safety of its workers

Workers at six Amazon sites in Germany will go on strike on Monday in protest over safety after some staff at logistics centres tested positive for coronavirus, labour union Verdi said. Verdi said on Sunday that the strike would last at least 48 hours, under the motto 'Good and healthy work', to denounce what it called a lack of transparency by the US retail giant after workers tested positive for COVID-19.

"We have information that at least 30 to 40 colleagues were infected," said Verdi representative Orhan Akman.

Amazon has faced a long-running battle with unions in Germany over better pay and conditions for logistics workers, who have staged frequent strikes since 2013.

Amazon Sued After New York Worker Brings Coronavirus Home, Cousin Dies

Verdi said the strikes will hit Amazon sites in Leipzig, Bad Hersfeld, Rheinberg, Werne, and Koblenz. It said Amazon was putting profit ahead of the safety of its workers.

Amazon rejected the accusations in a statement and said that as of June it had invested $4 billion (roughly Rs. 30,227 crores) on measures to protect its global workforce and clients from the risk of COVID-19 infections.

In Germany, its biggest market after the United States, Amazon has since February ordered 470 million hand disinfection bottles, 21 million pairs of gloves, 19 million masks, and other face protection gear and 39 million boxes of disinfectant wipes, a spokesman for Amazon in Germany said.

Amazon Hit From All Sides as Crisis Highlights Growing Power

© Thomson Reuters 2020

WWDC 2020 had a lot of exciting announcements from Apple, but which are the best iOS 14 features for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.