Environmentalists and unions to launch Amazon protest on Black Friday

Protesters, unions, and environmentalists are launching strikes and other action against Amazon this Black Friday.

The group Make Amazon Pay, a coalition convened by UNI Global Union and the Progressive International, announced a global day of action with strikes and protests in around 30 countries on 25 November.

The organisation is calling on the company to pay workers more, pay more tax, and lower its emissions.

“We all know that the price of everything is going up, as is the temperature of our planet. Instead of paying its workers fairly, its taxes in full and for its damage to our environment, Amazon is squeezing every last drop it can from workers, communities and the planet”, said Daniel Kopp from Progressive International.

“As workers around the world struggle with the cost of living scandal, Amazon, despite its enormous profits, is forcing real terms pay cuts on its workers. It shirks its taxes and its CO2 emissions are soaring - up 18 per cent in 2021 - even though Amazon only counts the emissions of 1 per cent of its products sold.”

CNBC reported that Amazon’s carbon emissions were the equivalent of 71.54 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Amazon’s footprint has increased dramatically from 2019, the year Amazon first began disclosing its carbon footprint.

Moreover, a report earlier by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting found that Amazon only counts product carbon emissions from the use of Amazon-branded goods - not those it buys from manufacturers and sells directly to the customer.

“Garment workers, like those I represent, toil to swell Amazon’s coffers often without any recognition that we are even Amazon workers. Amazon is the third largest direct employer in the world, but when you take us in the supply chain into account, it is even larger. At work we can face sexual harassment from management and victimisation when we try to organise in a trade union against that violence and for better pay and conditions”, Nazma Akhter, president of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation, said. “In Bangladesh, we are on the frontline of climate breakdown, so we know climate justice and social justice cannot be separated.”

Since 2015, Amazon has been encouraging customers to purchase more goods by making its Prime Day – and the shopping giant is likely to increase that to twice a year with what it calls ‘Prime Fall’.

A leader for the Amazon Labour Union, Derrick Palmer, described the pressure that Amazon workers are under during the event to The Independent in a recent interview.

“The pressure is definitely on. When you walk into an Amazon facility there’s a lot going on, it’s a busy company, but on Prime Day, they remind you … you’re working an extra day, and instead of working 10 hours, you’re working 11 hours. Do you go from working 40 hours, which is already tough, to working 55 hours, on top of them telling you that you need to go faster,” he said.

Mr Palmer said that Amazon tries to motivate workers with Amazon hoodies, TVs, and Amazon Fire TV Sticks. “Obviously, everything [is] Amazon … there’s no real ultimate prize for going faster, risking your health, which is what workers are already doing on a normal basis.”

In a statement, Amazon said: “These groups represent a variety of interests, and while we are not perfect in any area, if you objectively look at what Amazon is doing in each one of these areas you’ll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously. We are inventing and investing significantly in all these areas, playing a significant role in addressing climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, continuing to offer competitive wages and great benefits, and inventing new ways to keep our employees safe and healthy in our operations network, to name just a few. Anyone can see for themselves by taking a tour at one of our sites.”