Amazon Agrees With Most Workers In Spain, Avoid Full Impact Of Strike

Amazon is facing the threat of a mass strike by its employees. (photo: x @AIStockSavvy)

JAKARTA - Amazon finally  reached an agreement with most of its workers in Spain on Monday, November 27 that avoided the full impact of a planned strike of one hour per shift on one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. This was conveyed by the local trade union group CCOO and the company itself.

Some 20,000 warehouse and delivery workers at Amazon's Spanish unit have been called on to go on strike to demand better wages and working conditions on the Cyber Monday discount day, when retailers are looking to increase Christmas gift purchases.

In the words of Douglas Harper, leader of CCOO, the largest union at the US retailer in Spain, only 5,000 Amazon delivery workers will continue the protest, stopping work for the last hour of their shift, after they deemed the company's proposals for better pay conditions insufficient.

"Most of our teams will continue to work as usual and there will be no impact on our operations for our customers," the company said in an emailed statement. "We are proud of the wages, benefits and safer working conditions this will provide to our employees in Spain," Amazon added.

CCOO said it would continue negotiations with the company to improve wages and conditions at local units.

Amazon logistics workers on both sides of the Atlantic have complained about working conditions, with worker groups and activists across Europe protesting against the US e-commerce giant even last Friday.

On Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US during which many retailers cut prices to boost sales, groups in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy tried to disrupt the company's operations. Amazon has said that deliveries of Black Friday orders will be reliable and on time.