Dec 4, 2024
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Amazon Workers Strike in Over 20 Countries on Black Friday
1 December 2024 - Over the weekend of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, rallies with the slogan #MakeAmazonPay emerged in over 20 countries across the world. These demonstrations, run by current and former Amazon employees, called for increased wages, improved working conditions, and for Amazon employees across the world to be allowed to unionize.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Black Friday refers to the Friday after the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States, falling on 29 November this year. It is typically accompanied by massive discounts on major shopping websites across the country, and is a busy time for retail workers due to an increased demand for products. Black Friday continues through the weekend, and ends with “Cyber Monday”, the Monday after Black Friday, marked with major discounts on electronic items. Consumers typically shop on Black Friday in preparation for Christmas, and thus there is significantly more pressure on workers during this weekend.
The Strike
According to UNI Global Union and Progressive International, the main organisers of the protest, 2024 will be the fifth year of Amazon workers protesting against the company during the holiday season. “Make Amazon Pay” is made up of more than 80 trade unions, anti-poverty and garment worker rights groups, and others. Workers have collected in major cities in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, France, Bangladesh, India, Japan, and Brazil. While their protest aims to shed light on the “labor abuses, environmental degradation and threats to democracy” that Amazon has caused, workers in India in particular are protesting the company’s previous mistreatment of employees during the massive heatwave in the country during July 2023. Indian Amazon workers are thus rallying to demand fair treatment this year.
According to James Schneider, communications director at Progressive International, "Amazon squeezes everything that it can get, but it changes its behavior depending on its jurisdiction”. He argues that while they may allow trade unions in Sweden and are better at cooperating with them, the company instead engages in “union busting” in the US. Thus, workers in each country have specific demands. Overall, workers want the company to pay its workers fairly and respect their right to join unions, pay its fair share of taxes, and commit to environmental sustainability.
Amazon’s Response
In a statement to Fox Business News, Amazon said that organisers of the protest were being “intentionally misleading” and promoting a “false narrative”. Eilnee Hards, spokesperson for Amazon, said, “The fact is, at Amazon, we provide great pay, great benefits, and great opportunities — all from day one. 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”.