Amazon’s European workers protest Black Friday working conditions

The deals presented in various Black Friday sales can easily be blinding, saving incredible amounts of cash on tech, clothing and various other bits and bobs that would otherwise go overlooked. Due to this, it’s easy to forget the hard workers behind the scenes making timely shipping possible, resulting in Amazon’s European staff protesting the firm’s treatment across the holiday period.

Amazon workers in the UK, Spain, France, Italy, and Germany have all gone on strike, disputing the current working conditions during the busiest shopping period of the year. And yes, that includes Christmas. UK staff in particular are backed by GMB Union, which has highlighted the mob’s “anger” towards “inhumane conditions.”

GMB General Secretary Tim Roache took to the union’s website to issue a statement, claiming that workers are “breaking bones, being knocked unconscious and being taken away in ambulances. We're standing up and saying enough is enough, these are people making Amazon its money. People with kids, homes, bills to pay — they're not robots.”

#Solidarity ✊️ with #Amazon🤖 workers on strike in #Germany #Spain #Italy from your brothers and sisters who are members of @GMB_union ✊️ #AmazonWeAreNotRobots #GMBUnion4Amazon ✊️ pic.twitter.com/sDGR8yEgT8

— GMBunion@Amazon (@GMBunionAmazon) November 23, 2018

This has since become the company’s tagline during its campaign against the company, stating #AmazonWeAreNotRobots on Twitter. “Jeff Bezos is the richest bloke on the planet; he can afford to sort this out. Working people and the communities Amazon operates in deserve better than this. That's what we're campaigning for,” Roache continues.

Much of the treatment is blamed on Amazon’s promised One Day Delivery, which has since been deemed misleading by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). Amazon has been accused of cracking the mostly metaphorical whip during Prime Day event both last year and this year, resulting in union-enabled protests back in July.

Amazon has repeatedly attempted to eschew the stigma by employing staff specifically to defend the company across its various social media pages. The firm justified its Fulfillment Center Ambassadors, or FC Ambassadors for short, as employees that were tasked simply to dispel “wrong” reports across the web.

The shopping giant has yet to acknowledge the effort of its European employees, which will undoubtedly follow Black Friday if Amazon decides to publicly respond at all.

KitGuru Says: While I have to disclose that Prime NOW’s same-day delivery has saved me twice at this point, the idea of such a short delivery window is unfeasible for workers during the busier periods. Workers’ opinions certainly need to be addressed, even if it means a little more patience form Amazon customers.  

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