Amazon workers call partial strike coinciding with 'Cyber Monday'

The trade union CCOO has called a partial strike at Amazon on November 27 and 28, coinciding with 'Cyber Monday', which will affect all of the company's centers in Spain.

The union is calling on workers to stage one-hour stoppages per shift to protest against low wages, "inadequate" occupational health protection, and "continuous management problems" in the Human Resources department.

A statement from the workers' representatives group laments that "various proposals" have been presented to the multinational company, but so far "there has been no real approach by the company to provide a global solution to the work centers as a whole." CCOO criticize that Amazon are not offering any "reasonable way out" of the conflict.

The union also criticized that Amazon pays "the minimum wages of the sector in each province, and it is a decision that is not right or fair."

Strike organizers have also taken aim at the Human Resources department of the company, saying they are regularly confronted with "payroll errors, a lack of clarity in the concepts on the pay slip," and "difficulty" from management regarding holiday and leave requests. 

The union also warns of "insufficient" protection for staff health, claiming to have verified that the accident management system implemented by Amazon "is hiding possible failures in safety measures."

Extra workers for Black Friday

Amazon has added more workers at its logistics center in Far d'Empordà, in north Catalonia, ahead of the Black Friday and Christmas campaigns.

The move also comes amid the workers' strike planned for next Monday and Tuesday.

The company avoided commenting on the strike, but Jordi Bellana, director of the Far d'Empordà center, said they will continue to work "to fulfill the commitments to customers" and that they respect "the rights of the workers."

The Amazon hub now has around 1,800 workers including the new reinforcements. "From January and February we will stabilize and see what we need for the rest of the year," Bellana added.

Six months after opening, the center is close to 90% of its capacity and dispatches about 400,000 orders a day.