Amazon workers plan protests globally in conjunction with Black Friday

A few thousand Amazon warehouse employees across over 30 nations have plans to participate in protests and walkouts in conjunction with Black Friday sales.

According to reports on Bloomberg, Amazon workers are making demands for an increase in wages and better working conditions as the inflation increases, making expenses increase as well. A campaign is currently running called “Make Amazon Pay”. The campaign on Twitter is aimed to coincide with Black Friday, which is a major festival for Amazon.

Amazon has long faced issues with its employees on unfair labour practices and employee activism. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for a statement.

Meanwhile, an Amazon spokesperson also told Bloomberg that while the company is not perfect, it takes its role very seriously. Some areas he highlighted were in its goals to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, as well as how it is “continuing to offer competitive wages and great benefits”, and “inventing new ways to keep our employees safe and healthy.”

However, Monika di Silvestre, head of Ver.di’s Amazon committee in Germany, said that employees were specifically concerned about how they were closely monitored by computers to check on their productivity. One example is how they are monitored for how many packages they need to handle every hour.

She added that these measurements by the algorithms don’t take into account if workers are old or have mobility issues. She added that some workers “stay awake at night thinking only of their productivity stats”.

Meanwhile, according to Seattle Times, the tech giant has also been locking out its laid-off employees from their offices and laptops. A week after, the company started notifying workers that their positions were being cut. The layoffs began a week ago, and Amazon expects it to last well into 2023 and affect around 10,000 jobs.

Related articles: 

Amazon Prime stands by cast of The Lord of the Rings series
Amazon seller Packable is reportedly shutting down
Amazon's Prime Video is making its presence known in SEA with original content and massive campaigns
Amazon files lawsuit against Facebook groups soliciting fake reviews
Amazon Prime refreshes UX for growth, but is it missing out on SEA's potential?