- Title: Robots and a thousand jobs, Amazon opens warehouse in France
- Date: 22nd October 2019
- Summary: BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, FRANCE (OCTOBER 22, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ROBOTS MOVING STACKS OF AMAZON PRODUCTS AROUND WAREHOUSE RECEPTION DESK AMAZON LOGO WITH SLOGAN READING (English): "WORK HARD. HAVE FUN. MAKE HISTORY." JUNIOR MINISTER FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY, CEDRIC O, ARRIVING FOR OPENING CEREMONY O CUTTING RED RIBBON NEXT TO PRESIDENT OF AMAZON FRANCE LOGISTICS, RONAN BOLE, AND DIRECTOR OF AMAZON FRANCE, FREDERIC DUVAL EMPLOYEES CLAPPING DURING VISIT VARIOUS OF BOLE, O AND DUVAL VISITING WAREHOUSE VARIOUS OF EMPLOYEES SCANNING PACKAGES O AND BOLE DURING VISIT ROBOTS MOVING STACKS OF AMAZON PRODUCTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) JUNIOR MINISTER FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY, CEDRIC O, SAYING: "I think we need to make a distinction. We have discussions, sometimes robust discussions, between Amazon and France, and Amazon and the European Union, sometimes we don't agree, but that doesn't change anything. We're not giving carte blanche to Amazon. But we need to recognise when jobs are being created, and when jobs are being created for 3,000 people at all levels, people with their bac (school-leaving qualification), operators and technicians, we need to recognise that and salute it because it changes people's lives." BANNER FROM GREEN PROTESTER READING (French): "GOVERNMENT AND AMAZON: ACCOMPLICES IN DESTRUCTION UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS" PROTESTER HOLDING BANNER (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH DIRECTOR OF AMAZON LOGISTICS, RONAN BOLE, SAYING "The rhythm of work is optimised so that people enjoy their day at work. It's not in our interest to work too fast in any case. In logistics, what's important is to work rationally and be able to master the flow of goods, so there's no point in going very fast and then stopping, creating stockpiles. That doesn't help the flow of the logistics." (SOUNDBITE) (French) JUNIOR MINISTER FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY, CEDRIC O, SAYING: "Here, Amazon is respecting the law, is continuing to respect the law, so we'll continue to ensure that they're respecting the law, but you know, I tend to say there are six times as many robots in Germany and Germany is at full employment. So there is a big transition taking place, the digital transition which is taking place along with others like the green transition. What we want to do is make sure France takes its part in that transition." ROBOTS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) 50-YEAR-OLD AMAZON EMPLOYEE, NICOLE BREVET, SAYING: "It makes our lives easier because it means we don't have to walk kilometres ourselves. The robots come to us." 45-YEAR-OLD AMAZON EMPLOYEE, MARIAM EL BERGMI EL HAIK, AT WORK (SOUNDBITE) (French) 45-YEAR-OLD AMAZON EMPLOYEE, MARIAM EL BERGMI EL HAIK, SAYING: "Robots are never going to replace people. We always need people. Even the robots, when they stop, there are people there who look after the robots." VARIOUS OF CONVEYER BELTS FOR PACKAGES VARIOUS OF ROBOTS VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF AMAZON WAREHOUSE
- Embargoed: 5th November 2019 15:22
- Keywords: Amazon robots job creation working conditions
- Location: BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, FRANCE
- City: BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001B26KEH3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A vast robotic warehouse for online retailer Amazon the size of 20 football pitches opened in a southern suburb of Paris on Tuesday (October 22), praised as an engine for job creation by some but amid criticism from some local opponents.
With a surface area of 152,000 square metres, the warehouse is Amazon's largest in France, and the company boasts its state-of-the-art robotics, which bring stacks of products to human packers improving efficiency as they don't have to fetch them themselves.
More than 600 permanent jobs have been created already in Bretigny-sur-Orge, a town with higher-than-average unemployment, and the company says it plans to increase that to 1,000 jobs in three years.
The red-carpet opening comes as the French government is waging a Europe-wide campaign to tax digital giants, including Amazon, with a current unilateral levy of 3 percent applied to revenue from digital services.
Junior minister for the digital economy Cedric O said on Tuesday that the issues of employment and taxation were separate, and disagreements with the company at a national level did not detract from the benefits of job creation locally.
"I think we need to make a distinction. We have discussions, sometimes robust discussions, between Amazon and France... But we need to recognise when jobs are being created," he told journalists.
Though the company's arrival in the town was championed by the centre-right mayor, some organisations including Attac, Friends of the Earth and local green politicians have denounced its environmental impact and working practices.
Quizzed about the company's record on workers' rights and workload, the boss of Amazon logistics in France, Ronan Bole, denied accusations that workers were put under undue pressure to work quickly.
O said Amazon's practices in France were entirely within the law.
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