The fight for collective agreements at Internet giant Amazon goes to them trade union Verdi continues into the new year.
“As long as there is Amazon and there are no collective agreements with us, the conflict is always at stake,” the union’s president, Frank Wernke, told dpa. “Amazon will never get rid of us.” Wernke emphasized that the industrial strike had been carried out in various locations as part of the “Black Friday shopping frenzy”.
Verdi focuses on Amazon drivers
After some improvements, especially for camp workers, the union is currently focusing specifically on the situation of the American company’s drivers in Germany. “In many cases, they are hired by subcontractors on very poor terms,” Wernke said. “It starts with payment and is not limited to driving times and breaking regulations.”
Wernek criticizes politics
Werneke emphasized that Amazon is the largest member of the Retail Employers Association. At the same time, they refuse to enter into collective bargaining. In my view, this is not acceptable, not even through a federal government. It was therefore desirable that the new federal government’s coalition agreement should clarify more about the generally binding nature of collective agreements. “This is a complete void,” Werneke said.
image source:
- amazon_2: © Andre – stock.adobe.com