{"id":26322,"date":"2024-11-21T15:38:24","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/eu-lawmakers-agree-with-union-demands-on-amazon-lobby-ban\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T15:54:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T14:54:11","slug":"eu-lawmakers-agree-with-union-demands-on-amazon-lobby-ban","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/uniglobalunion.org\/news\/eu-lawmakers-agree-with-union-demands-on-amazon-lobby-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"EU lawmakers agree with union demands on scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon warehouses"},"content":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS, 21 November<\/strong> \u2013 European Union lawmakers have reached an agreement on scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon warehouses in line with demands by European trade unions earlier this week. Under the agreement, Amazon must attend a hearing in the Parliament\u2019s Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL) before Members of European Parliament go on a fact-finding mission meeting Amazon officials and workers\u2019 representatives at its warehouses. Subsequently, the Committee would decide, without any automatic guarantee, on the readmission of Amazon lobbyists to the European Parliament. The decision comes after European trade unions, including UNI Europa and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), sent a letter<\/a> to lawmakers on Monday outlining these conditions. The letter also urged them to consider Amazon\u2019s history of alleged union-busting and refusal to engage in collective bargaining as part of their deliberations.<\/p>\r\n On today\u2019s decision, Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, said:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \u201cEarlier this year, Amazon\u2019s lobbyists were banned from the European Parliament for refusing to face democratic scrutiny. Now, as the company asks for a dialogue again, we commend EU lawmakers setting clear and strict conditions for a parliamentary fact-finding mission and a hearing. Crucially, this includes listening to workers\u2019 representatives and trade unions to paint a full pictures of what is going in Amazon\u2019s warehouses.\u201d<\/p>\r\n On 10 October, Amazon sent a letter to EMPL coordinator Li Andersson to re-open dialogue after Members of European Parliament banned<\/a> Amazon lobbyists from the Parliament in February. The company had refused multiple times to participate in a parliamentary hearing and cancelled parliamentarians\u2019 official visit to observe working conditions in its warehouses. Over 30 trade unions and civil society organisations, including UNI Europa, Corporate Europe Observatory, LobbyControl and SOMO had sent a\u00a0joint letter<\/a>\u00a0to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola demanding a ban of Amazon lobbyists. Two months later, UNI Europa coordinated coordinated a visit of S&D MEPs with Amazon workers and trade union representatives in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands to hear first-hand stories of workers.<\/p>\r\n Last month, an investigation by the EU Transparency Register revealed<\/a> that Amazon Europe updated its lobbying spending figures to over \u20ac5 million back in August. The new figures were published after a civil society complaint exposed two thinks tanks and two lobbies on the US multinational\u2019s payroll that were not properly registered.<\/p>\r\n