Amazon employees on strike for better working conditions

The 9,500 employees of the American e-commerce giant Amazon in Italy were called by several unions to strike on Monday, March 22, for better working conditions in an economic context marked by the Covid-19 pandemic. Lightening of the workload, compliance with health standards in times of pandemic, payment of a “Covid indemnity”, wage increases … The list of demands of the CGIL, CISL and UIL unions is long, according to which the movement could reach nearly 40,000 workers, by integrating Amazon service providers.

“The employees are exhausted”, Amazon drivers “deliver up to 180 to 200 packages per day”, denounce in a joint statement the unions, evoking an unprecedented social movement for Amazon in Italy. Amazon customers are invited to lend a hand to striking employees, by giving up making purchases on the platform on Monday, according to an appeal launched by the consumer association Federconsumatori.

The confinement periods established to stem the Covid-19 pandemic and the long closure of non-essential businesses have caused sales of the American giant to skyrocket around the world. Amazon has exceeded 100 billion in quarterly turnover for the first time in its history and saw its profit double in the fourth quarter of 2020, to 7.2 billion dollars.