- Title: AMAZON.COM-STRIKE/GERMANY Amazon workers strike in Leipzig
- Date: 30th March 2015
- Summary: LEIPZIG, GERMANY (MARCH 30, 2015) (REUTERS) POSTERS CALLING FOR COLLECTIVE LABOUR AGREEMENT OUTSIDE AMAZON WAREHOUSE IN EASTERN GERMAN CITY OF LEIPZIG PERSON WALKING THROUGH DOOR IN WAREHOUSE (SEEN THROUGH WINDOW) SIGN READING (German) "TODAY: STRIKE" VARIOUS OF WORKERS FROM UNION "VERDI" CARRYING VERDI FLAGS VERDI CHIEF NEGOTIATOR IN AMAZON DISPUTE JOERG LAUENROTH-MAGO SPEAKING WITH COLLEAGUE (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF NEGOTIATOR FROM UNION VERDI IN AMAZON DISPUTE, JOERG LAUENROTH-MAGO, SAYING: "We want to have standardised working conditions. That means we want collective agreements, decent wages, holiday and Christmas pay. We want to regulate surcharges and we want to work on the basis that we can negotiate pay rises on an equal footing every year or every two years. We want concrete negotiations instead of having to wait to see if there will be a rise or not. For that we need the basis of a collective bargaining agreement." MAN HOLDING VERDI FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF NEGOTIATOR FROM UNION VERDI IN AMAZON DISPUTE, JOERG LAUENROTH-MAGO, SAYING: "We will continue and be even more active with our strikes. In the past we went on strike for three weeks only in Leipzig, last week there was a strike only in Graben. Today we are striking together at different locations and with these strikes we will disrupt and hinder business for as long as it takes for Amazon to finally back down and enter into negotiations with us." PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE MARQUEE PEOPLE SITTING AT TABLES IN MARQUEE PEOPLE QUEUING PEOPLE SPEAKING TO VERDI UNION REPRESENTATIVES PEOPLE REGISTERING AS ON STRIKE PEOPLE FILLING IN STRIKE FORMS AMAZON LOGO ON WAREHOUSE MARQUEE AND BARRICADES IN FRONT OF WAREHOUSE
- Embargoed: 14th April 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA6ZWSSLUUYPH5O8E0FDBANJ9GE
- Story Text: Amazon.com workers in Leipzig began fresh strikes in the early hours of Monday (March 30) morning in a long-running dispute over better pay and conditions.
The strike, which extends to another four of Amazon's nine distribution centres in Germany, is due to run until the end of the late shift on Tuesday (March 31).
Labour union Verdi has organised frequent strikes at Amazon since May 2013 as it seeks to force the retailer to raise pay for warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements across Germany's mail order and retail industry.
"We want to have standardised working conditions. That means we want collective agreements, decent wages, holiday and Christmas pay. We want to regulate surcharges and we want to work on the basis that we can negotiate pay rises on an equal footing every year or every two years. We want concrete negotiations instead of having to wait to see if there will be a rise or not. For that we need the basis of a collective bargaining agreement," Verdi's chief negotiator in the dispute, Joerg Lauenroth-Mago told Reuters on Monday.
Amazon has repeatedly rejected the union's demands, saying it regards warehouse staff as logistics workers and that they receive above-average pay by the standards of that industry.
Verdi will be hoping to exert extra pressure with this fresh round of strikes in the run-up to the long Easter weekend.
"We will continue and be even more active with our strikes. In the past we went on strike for three weeks only in Leipzig, last week there was a strike only in Graben. Today we are striking together at different locations and with these strikes we will disrupt and hinder business for as long as it takes for Amazon to finally back down and enter into negotiations with us," Lauenroth-Mago told Reuters.
Amazon.com employs almost 10,000 regular staff at its warehouses in Germany, its second-biggest market behind the United States, as well as more than 10,000 seasonal workers. It can also draw on 19 other warehouses across Europe. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
