Amazon workers in Germany to strike over pay, Verdi union says

BERLIN (Reuters) – Workers at seven Amazon (AMZN.O) websites throughout Germany will go on strike over pay for a minimum of two days this week beginning on Sunday night time going into Monday, labor union Verdi mentioned.

The strikes, underneath the motto ‘No more discount on our incomes”, will coincide with Amazon’s Prime Day when the U.S. on-line retail large presents its ‘Prime’ clients low cost offers. Germany is its second-biggest market after the United States.

Amazon has confronted a long-running battle with unions in Germany over higher pay and circumstances for logistics workers, who’ve staged frequent strikes since 2013.

“While Amazon fuels bargain hunting on Prime Day with hefty discounts, employees are being deprived of a living wage,” Verdi retail specialist Orhan Akman mentioned in a press release.

Verdi mentioned the strikes would hit Amazon’s websites in Werne, Rheinberg, Leipzig, Graben, Koblenz, in addition to at Amazon’s two websites in Bad Hersfeld.

“The company must finally recognize the collective wage agreements for the retail and mail order sectors,” Akman mentioned. “Wages and salaries at Amazon must no longer be determined in the style of a lord of the manor.”

Verdi additionally demanded that collective bargaining agreements be made binding throughout Germany’s retail sector.

“A universally binding collective agreement would then apply for Amazon too,” mentioned Akman.

Amazon runs 12 warehouses in Germany. Earlier on Sunday, Amazon mentioned it plans to open a brand new warehouse in Germany this 12 months and create greater than 2,800 jobs with everlasting contracts.