1. International

Coinciding with the so-called “Black Friday” deals that Amazon launched worldwide the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, factory workers in Italy and the UK staged strikes to protest working conditions and wages.

Italian unions indicated this Friday that more than half of the staff at the Amazon factory in Castel San Giovanni (northern Italy), one of the most important factories in the country, participated in a global strike held to coincide with ” Black Friday “. .

In the UK, a thousand workers at the Amazon factory in Coventry (England) also went on strike this Friday.

“Black Friday” is a day of deals that the company launches every year around the world, one day after Thanksgiving in the United States, which marks the launch of Christmas shopping and multiplies sales operations several times that of a normal day at Amazon, forcing the company’s workers to speed up the pace of work or working grueling overtime to fulfill all orders. This is why a few years ago it became an important date to make your claims heard before billionaire Jeff Bezos’ company.

This Friday, the three major trade unions in Italy, CGIL, CISL and UIL, told local media that participation in the strike at the logistics center in northern Italy was 60% for permanent employees and 50% for temporary employees.

The strike called by Italian unions, for which there is no consensus on the follow-up, coincided with protests and demonstrations against Amazon management held elsewhere in Europe and the United States under the slogan “Make Amazon Pay.”

According to workers’ organizations, it was the biggest strike day in the history of the company, which insisted the action would not affect its clients on one of the most important days for trade. world.

In Italy, the Castel San Giovanni factory employs more than 1,700 workers, although in times of high consumption, such as Christmas, this workforce can be doubled through temporary contracts.

Employees of the e-commerce giant in Italy are demanding a higher salary increase than proposed by management, of 3% gross, an increase in food vouchers and greater attention to the welfare and mental health of workers, denouncing the context. great pressure and control in their work.

Apart from Italy and England, strikes were also held at Amazon factories in Germany, and various types of actions were carried out in at least 30 countries around the world.