Amazon Worker Strike, Protest Set For Black Friday: 'We Are Fighting Back'

Global employees and activists will protest working conditions at retail giant Amazon on the major shopping day of Black Friday.

The protest is organized by a group called Make Amazon Pay, which launched in 2020. Actions planned include a delivery driver strike in Italy, a work stoppage across warehouses in France, demonstrations in South Africa at the site of Amazon’s new regional offices there, and a garment worker protest in Bangladesh and Cambodia.

In the U.S., the Athena Coalition will hold digital and in-person actions that target Amazon and Whole Foods.

“From oil refineries to factories, to warehouses, to data centres, to corporate offices in countries across the world, workers and activists are rising up in strikes, protests and actions to Make Amazon Pay,” the group’s website claims. “We are fighting back to Make Amazon Pay.”

In their lists of demands, the group states: “we are workers, activists, and citizens from across the globe joining together to Make Amazon Pay its workers fairly, for its impact on the environment and its taxes. We demand Amazon change its policies. . .”

Some of the additional signatories included in the list of demands, forming a coalition, are groups like Sunrise Movement, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, Amazon Workers International, Greenpeace, and more. The international strike and protest brings together 70 groups including unions, grassroots organizations, tax watchdogs, and environmentalist groups, from all over the world in at least 20 countries.

Amazon has faced criticism for unfair treatment of workers. They have complained about low wages and inhospitable working conditions during the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Amazon was hit with a fine in California for not sharing COVID data with employees.