Workers ‘Make Amazon Pay’ with Unprecedented Global Black Friday Walkout

(Social media video snapshot)

Amazon warehouse workers in dozens of nations around the globe – including the United States – staged a Black Friday walkout to “make Amazon pay,” an unprecedented strike against the tech and retail giant.

Coalition of Unions and ‘Progressive Officials’

Amazon warehouse workers from 40 countries walked out of their jobs, demanding better working conditions and higher pay. 

The worldwide strike was organized by a global campaign group called Make Amazon Pay, which aptly entitled the protest “Make Amazon Pay Day.” 

The first-of-its-kind global warehouse walkout was also promoted on Twitter using the hashtag #MakeAmazonPay. 

The global strike affected Amazon facilities all over the United States, including workhouse facilities in St. Peters, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Washington, DC; Columbia, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Joliet, Illinois. 

Employees of stores from the Whole Foods chain, owned by Amazon, also took labor actions. 

Leftists Go Loco

Besides the walkouts, Amazon workers and lefty activists stage a rally in front of a residence in New York City owned by company owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos. 

Ahead of the worldwide anti-Amazon strike, the UNI Global Union general secretary, Christy Hoffman, issued a statement celebrating the push by “civil society,” unions, and “progressive elected officials” to get better pay and conditions for Amazon warehouse workers.

She stressed the coalition has acted to “denounce” the “despicable multimillion-dollar campaigns” that Amazon has used to “kill worker-lead union efforts.”

The union leader further blasted the “awful, unsafe” working conditions in Amazon facilities, urging the corporation to “negotiate” with the striking workers who sought “to make their jobs better.”

(Social media video snapshot)

Amazon Claims It’s Finding ‘New Ways’ To Boost Safety and Higher Pay

Amazon has been under fire for years over the allegedly harsh working conditions and inadequate pay in its warehouses, not to mention timed toilet breaks.

Another central point of resentment among workers and labor activists has been the reportedly numerous workplace incidents.

Thus, in 2021, almost half of all US warehouse injuries were at Amazon’s facilities, according to data from the Strategic Organizing Center, an alliance of labor unions. 

The SOC report for 2021 noted that even though Amazon employed only about one-third of warehouse workers in America, it accounted for 49% of the injuries in the industry.

The various working condition complaints have led Amazon workers to try to unionize in some facilities – the first ones being those in New York City’s Staten Island.

Other warehouse workers have taken legal action to support their bargaining rights, causing a judge last week to order Amazon to terminate its measures against workers who take labor actions.

Besides the Amazon workers in the United States, warehouse employees also went on strike in Amazon’s facilities in Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Czechia, Japan, Poland, India, Slovakia, Turkey, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Hungary, Cambodia, Austria, Argentina, and the Netherlands.

An Amazon spokesperson defended the corporation’s record in all areas, stating that while it may not be “perfect” in any of them, it was taking its “role and impact very seriously.”

The spokesperson touted Amazon’s pledge to be “net zero carbon” by 2040 and to “continue” to give workers “competitive wages and great benefits” while finding “new ways” to boost workplace safety.

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