After another no-show, unions call for tougher EU sanctions on Amazon

UNI Europa has called on the European Parliament to take further action against Amazon after the tech giant failed to appear for a scheduled hearing on working conditions – marking the third time since 2021 the company has refused to engage with EU lawmakers.

“Amazon must face consequences for such uncooperative behaviour towards our democratic institutions,” said UNI Europa Regional Secretary Oliver Roethig in a letter addressed to Members of European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday. “If an Amazon worker would have behaved this way towards Amazon management, they would have already been fired three times over.”

The hearing, organised by the Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL), aimed to scrutinise labour conditions in Amazon’s European warehouses. According to Committee, Amazon refused to send representatives with the appropriate seniority for such an appearance – despite previously signalling a willingness to cooperate.

The company’s failure to attend prompted Roethig to urge Parliament to reaffirm its stance against corporate obstruction. “We demand accountability – and the European Parliament has already shown that it can deliver on it,” he said.

In 2023, Parliament withdrew lobby access for Amazon’s representatives, joining Monsanto as only the second company to face such a penalty. That decision – which was demanded by trade unions and civil society at the time – came after Amazon skipped a previous hearing. In the letter, UNI Europa said the measure had “worked,” leading Amazon to re-engage with the committee following the 2024 European elections.

But the latest no-show has renewed frustrations. “For the third time, Amazon has refused to cooperate with – and respect – the EU’s democratic institutions,” Roethig wrote.

In the letter to Members of European Parliament in the Employment Committee, UNI Europa is now calling on MEPs to:

• Maintain the ban on Amazon lobbyists’ access to the European Parliament;
• Invite Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to a high-level, cross-committee hearing in 2026 to address the company’s labour, tax, environmental and anti-competitive practices;
• Publish all European institutional contracts with Amazon and its subsidiaries, suspend them pending a review of their compatibility with EU procurement laws and ILO Conventions 87 and 98, and terminate those found in breach.

The hearing saw testimonies from Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, Monika Di Silvestre, trade union secretary of UNI Europa affiliate ver.di, Agata Wypiór, leader of the works committee of the NSZZ Solidarność Amazon Poland, and Magda Malinowska, warehouse worker of Amazon Poland, member of Workers’ Initiative trade union.

Oliver Roethig criticsed Amazon’s absence during the hearing: “As Jeff Bezos, with his net worth of 230 billion dollars, makes his way to Venice on his 500 million dollars yacht for a 20 million dollars wedding, I consider it offensive that the company has refused to show up for the third time to a hearing in the European Parliament.

Di Silvestre spoke about the fear of Amazon workers in Germany: “Amazon workers from Germany are not here today because they are afraid of their employer. I find it unacceptable that in Europe and across the world, workers would be afraid of standing up for their rights.”

Agata Wypiór expressed criticism on low wages at Amazon Poland: “We talk about raises, but to no effect. Imagine that an employee after 10 years of work gets around 6.42 euros per hour at Amazon.”

Subsequently, several Members of European Parliament from the left to the right – such as Estelle Ceulemans (S&D) and Liesbet Sommen (EPP) – took the floor and called for maintaining the withdrawal of Amazon lobbyists’ badges.