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The participants in the meeting heard accounts from representatives from each of the countries about the situation of Amazon workers, particularly in terms of health, the challenges faced by trade unions on the ground and also their strategies. The testimony of the workers from all around the globe was quite similar. Amazon seems to apply the same labour standards and management style in every country, with slight variations based on national laws (e.g. regarding wages). The policy on working conditions is based on large-scale industrialisation of logistical work, with a high division of tasks that involve repetitive actions, a very high work rate, significant pressure from management and constant monitoring of workers through digital tools – which some call ‘management through fear’ – and the shortest possible breaks. These working conditions mean that all of its sites experience a large number of workplace accidents (and even deaths) and a very high turnover. In the United Kingdom, for example, a study by the union GMB revealed that there had been more than 600 ambulance call-outs to UK warehouses in just three years. In addition to that, there is widespread use of temporary workers with very insecure contracts, particularly during peak seasonal periods, and a great deal of pressure on workers not to join a union.
A US researcher, John Logan, presented the results of his research on Amazon’s openly and radically anti-union policy, which is particularly aggressive in the United States. He also highlighted the extremely high subsidies that Amazon receives in every country in which it is based, in addition to tax exemptions.
The second day was devoted to organising global cooperation among trade unions and workers on actions on the ground, bargainings and communication. A coordination group, comprising six people from the various trade unions and continents, was established. Several simultaneous actions were planned in different European countries (particularly Spain and the United Kingdom) for the Black Friday (23 November) in order to raise awareness of the united front established by the unions against Amazon.
‘We also know that in the world in which we live when we work together… we increase our power… we have a better chance of success’, stressed the President of UNI Commerce Global, Stuart Appelbaum, who introduced and concluded the two days. He also pointed to the gap between the good image Amazon portrays to its consumers – and even its workers – and the reality experienced by the people working in its warehouses: ‘Many people still think about Amazon in a positive light… They fail to recognize the very rear consequences of the company’s ambition will have for workers and the world … We have not only the power but also the responsibility to educate each other, the workers, the public and the politiciens… to the true nature of Amazon and the really real threat its business model and its daily practices pose to all of us.’
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