On Friday, Amazon warehouse workers and social and environmental justice
activists around the world will stage a series of coordinated protests,
strikes, and actions to demand the online retailer respect workers’
rights to participate in union activity, stop circumventing tax laws, and
commit to higher environmental standards, according to the event’s
organizers. From a report: The day of action, which is being called
sales events of the year and the start of its peak season, when warehouse
worker injuries are highest and workloads for warehouse workers and
delivery drivers skyrocket. On Friday, protest actions will take place
across Amazon’s supply chain in Brazil, Mexico, the United States, the
United Kingdom, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy,
Poland, India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Australia. As many as
3,000 workers will strike at six Amazon facilities in Germany. Garment
workers in Bangladesh who manufacture clothes sold by Amazon will also
protest. Trade union members and environmental groups, including the
climate-focused Extinction Rebellion, will demonstrate outside Amazon’s
European headquarters in Luxembourg. In the Philippines, contracted
Amazon Ring call center workers, who face ‘subhuman’ conditions according
to a recent Financial Times article, will hold a virtual action. At
Amazon’s Seattle and Northern Virginia headquarters, community activists
from social justice organizations, including Justice for Muslims
Collective and La ColectiVA, will hold their own protests. …
