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German Union Verdi Calls for Amazon Employees to Strike Over Coronavirus Infections
June 29 2020 - 06:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Kim Richters


German labor union Verdi has called on Amazon.com Inc. employees in Germany to strike for at least two days starting Monday, citing concerns over recent coronavirus infections at company sites.

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Strikes are planned at six of the U.S. e-commerce company's locations in Germany and would last at least 48 hours, the union said Sunday.

It said there have been recent coronavirus outbreaks at Amazon sites in cities like Bad Hersfeld and it is criticizing the company for a lack of transparency.

"According to our information, there have been at least 30 to 40 colleagues infected," union representative Orhan Akman said in a statement.

Apart from strikes in cities like Leipzig, the union also plans measures at locations where strikes aren't possible because of coronavirus restrictions.

A spokesman for Amazon in Germany said in an email that in the case of Bad Hersfeld, city authorities had concluded the infections stemmed from "private activities," and it had introduced measures like mandatory masks at all company sites.

Amazon will have invested around $4 billion in measures to protect staff and customers world-wide from coronavirus as of the end of June, the spokesman added.

The union demanded that Amazon accept an agreement that emphasizes employee health and security, as well as regional collective agreements for the retail sector, a long-standing point of contention between the union and the company.

Amazon said the unions demands were already a "reality for Amazon's employees: wages at the upper end of what is paid for comparable activities, development opportunities for many people and above all a safe working environment."


Write to Kim Richters at [e-mail]