Share
News

Employees Across 20 Countries Aim to 'Make Amazon Pay' by Dealing the Company a Black Friday Blow

Share

The world’s largest online retailer is facing work-stopping protests from employees around the world — on the busiest shopping days of the year.

The UNI Global Union, an international labor group, and Progressive International, a “post-capitalist” political umbrella group, are organizing strikes at Amazon facilities in more than 20 countries, according to ABC News.

The actions are scheduled to run from Black Friday (the global term for the Friday after Thanksgiving in the U.S.) through Cyber Monday, covering the weekend that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season.

The “Make Amazon Pay” action is in its fifth year, according to a UNI Global news release.

It includes actions by Amazon employees in “Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and beyond,” the release stated.

The effort is also targeting Amazon facilities in India, attacking the company’s treatment of employees during a deadly heat wave in the country over the summer.

The campaign exists “to hold Amazon accountable for labor abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy,” the UNI Global release claimed.

It’s no accident that the activities are set for the worst possible time for the sometimes controversial online retailer, which has made founder Jeff Bezos one of the world’s richest men.

The holiday shopping season is huge for any business, but Amazon’s sheer size and global reach make it unique.

In 2023, Amazon accounted for 18 percent of all Black Friday sales worldwide, ABC reported.

Do you buy from Amazon?

How much impact the actions will have is questionable.

ABC reported, Amazon recorded record profits last year during the “Make Amazon Pay” action.

For its part, the company maintains the union “is being intentionally misleading and continues to promote a false narrative.”

“The fact is at Amazon we provide great pay, great benefits, and great opportunities — all from day one,” Amazon spokeswoman Eileen Hards said in a statement, according to ABC.

Related:
Jeff Bezos 'Optimistic' About Trump's Second Term, Declares 'I'm Going to Help Him'

“We’ve created more than 1.5 million jobs around the world, and counting, and we provide a modern, safe, and engaging workplace whether you work in an office or at one of our operations buildings.”

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , ,
Share
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro desk editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015.
Joe has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, copy editor and metro editor in newsrooms in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. He's been with Liftable Media since 2015. Largely a product of Catholic schools, who discovered Ayn Rand in college, Joe is a lifelong newspaperman who learned enough about the trade to be skeptical of every word ever written. He was also lucky enough to have a job that didn't need a printing press to do it.
Birthplace
Philadelphia
Nationality
American




Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation