{"id":11938,"date":"2023-11-24T09:13:10","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T08:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/?post_type=news&p=11938"},"modified":"2023-11-24T19:16:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T18:16:37","slug":"makeamazonpay2023","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/makeamazonpay2023\/","title":{"rendered":"New wave of \u201cMake Amazon Pay\u201d strikes and protests on Black Friday in over 30 countries"},"content":{"rendered":"
Warehouse workers and drivers striking in the U.K., U.S., Italy, and Spain\u00a0and Germany<\/i><\/p>\r\n
On November 24, 2023, Black Friday,<\/b>\u00a0the busiest shopping day of the year, and through the weekend and Monday, Amazon will face strikes\u00a0and protests in over\u00a030\u00a0countries around the world in a massive day of action coordinated by the\u00a0Make Amazon Pay<\/a>\u00a0campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n \u201cThis day of action grows every year because the movement to hold Amazon accountable keeps getting bigger and stronger. Workers know that it doesn’t matter what country you’re in or what your job title is, we are all united in the fight for higher wages, an end to unreasonable quotas, and a voice on the job<\/i>,” said\u00a0Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union<\/b>. \u201cThat’s what workers in Coventry are striking for, and that is why workers around the world are standing up to Make Amazon Pay<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n This is the fourth year that Make Amazon Pay has organized a global day of action on Black Friday. In previous years, thousands of workers went on\u00a0strike at facilities throughout Germany<\/a>, France, Spain, the UK and Italy<\/u>,\u00a0garment workers\u2019 took to the streets in\u00a0Bangladesh<\/a>, workers in the US organized walkouts,\u00a0civil society allies held demonstrations projecting the Make Amazon Pay logo at Amazon headquarters all over the world, projecting \u201cpandemic profiteer\u201d onto Jeff Bezos mansion, and\u00a0climate activists<\/a>\u00a0blockaded Amazon warehouses in three European countries.<\/p>\r\n Co-convened by UNI Global Union and the Progressive International,\u00a0Make Amazon Pay <\/a>brings together over 80 unions, civil society organizations, environmentalists and tax watchdogs including UNI Global Union, the Progressive International, Greenpeace, 350.org, Tax Justice Network and Amazon Workers International. The campaign is united behind a set of common demands that Amazon pays its workers fairly and respects their right to join unions, pays its fair share of taxes and commits to real environmental sustainability.<\/p>\r\n “From the warehouses in Coventry to the factories of Dhaka, this Global Day of Action is more than a protest. It is a worldwide declaration that this age of abuse must end<\/i>,” said\u00a0Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, co-General Coordinator of the Progressive International<\/b>. “Amazon’s globe-spanning empire, which exploits workers, our communities and our planet, now faces a growing globe-spanning movement to Make Amazon Pay<\/i>.”<\/p>\r\n Highlights from Make Amazon Pay day 2023 are set to include:<\/b><\/p>\r\n These actions reflect the widespread criticism of Amazon’s corporate practices. According to a comprehensive\u00a02023 UNI Global Union survey, <\/a>Amazon’s intense performance monitoring has inflicted stress, pressure, anxiety, and a sense of mistrust among its employees across eight key countries. The survey reveals alarming statistics: 51% of employees report adverse health effects, and 57% cite deteriorating mental health due to Amazon’s intrusive monitoring. This has led to increasing scrutiny from lawmakers and the public, with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders investigating the company’s\u00a0\u201cabysmal safety record<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n A\u00a0new report<\/a>\u00a0by the U.S.-based National Employment Law Project (NELP), Amazon\u2019s warehouse workers receive significantly lower wages compared to other workers in the sector and considerably less than average earnings in their corresponding U.S. counties.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t