Amazon hit by strikes, protests across Europe during Black Friday
Amazon hit by strikes, protests across Europe during Black Friday
Amazon workers walked out on strike at multiple locations across Europe on Friday in protests against the U.S. e-commerce giant's working practices on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Black Friday...workers at a warehouse
That'd probably be a bigger deal for customer-facing workers at a brick-and-mortar retailer.
In that case, the retailer can't make sales.
But warehouse workers going on strike won't stop sales, will just slow deliveries. And Black Friday is really about deals for Christmas -- a sort of start of the shopping season for that holiday. It's well out from the day when Christmas deliveries will need to arrive. So I doubt that most deliveries from Black Friday sales need to be delivered urgently.
I don't know how likely it is (seems unlikely as it was coordinated until Monday), but if they can maintain strikes through to Christmas, then it would have a major effect. People ordering a week before will not get it in time.
Each year, Amazon hires a bunch of temp workers to deal with Christmas volume increase, at low wages and kept in poor working and living conditions. If the current workers keep striking, they'll just hire enough temps to fulfill the "Prime" customer's orders, while everyone else will get them when they get them ("should have paid for Prime...").
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LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) workers walked out on strike at multiple locations across Europe on Friday in protests against the U.S. e-commerce giant's working practices on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
"Make Amazon Pay", a campaign coordinated by the UNI Global Union, said strikes and protests would take place in more than 30 countries from Black Friday - the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, when many retailers slash prices to boost sales - until Monday.
Originally known for crowds lining up at big-box stores in the U.S., Black Friday has increasingly moved online and gone global, fueled in part by Amazon, which this year has advertised holiday discounts from Nov. 17 to Nov. 27.
In England, more than 200 workers were striking on Friday at Amazon's warehouse in Coventry as part of a long-running dispute over pay.
Spanish union CCOO called for Amazon warehouse and delivery workers to stage a one-hour strike on each shift on "Cyber Monday" next week.
In France, Amazon's parcel lockers - located in train stations, supermarket car parks, and street corners, and used by many customers to receive orders - were plastered with posters and barricade tape, according to anti-globalisation organisation Attac, which planned the protest.
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