Why are Amazon workers around the world striking on Black Friday?

• Amazon workers in more than 20 countries to strike
• Workers demand better pay, rights and climate action
• Amazon increasingly challenged over labour practices

BRUSSELS – Amazon workers plan to walk out and protest across the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, and Brazil this weekend in a standoff over pay, union rights, climate action and working conditions at the giant U.S. online retailer.

Trade unions and workers' groups are staging the protests to coincide with one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year from Black Friday to Cyber Monday when Amazon and other retailers offer major discounts and warehouse workers rush to fulfill orders.

"Amazon's relentless pursuit of profit comes at a cost to workers, the environment and democracy," Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union, one of the main organisers of the protests, said in a written statement. 

So where are strikes happening, what are the demands and can they make a difference?

Where are strikes happening and what are the demands?

Strikes and protests under the banner 'Make Amazon Pay' will take place in more than 20 countries across six continents.

Thousands of workers in Germany are expected to strike in Graben, Dortmund, Werne, Bad Hersfeld, Leipzig, Koblenz and Rheinberg.

Workers at Amazon Web Services in Belgium, and at Amazon's European headquarters in Luxembourg, are demanding better working conditions and job security, according to UNI Global Union, which represents service sector workers.

U.K. workers and activists will protest outside Amazon's London headquarters on Friday to push their demands for better working conditions and for the company to "pay its fair share of taxes".

Amazon India workers in New Delhi want better conditions for coping with extreme heat, and garment makers working along Amazon's supply chain will also take to the streets in Bangladesh. 

Amazon has defended its treatment of workers.

"These groups represent a variety of interests, and while we're always listening and looking at ways to improve, we remain proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and engaging, safe work experience we provide our teams," Eileen Hards, Amazon U.S. spokesperson, said in a statement.

While the protests aim to disrupt deliveries to draw attention to alleged labour abuses and environmental harms, Amazon has not mentioned delays on Black Friday deals via their website and past Black Friday protests have not curbed sales.

So is it just about workers' rights?

Trade unions are joining forces with tax justice, anti-poverty, and climate campaigners as well as booksellers to push a range of demands that go beyond wages and working conditions.

In France, social, financial and environmental justice campaign group Attac, which calls Black Friday a "celebration of overproduction and consumption", is staging protests across cities calling for the e-commerce giant - owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos - to pay its fair share of taxes.

Climate activists highlight Amazon's role in the environmental cost of Black Friday sales, citing the higher volumes of carbon emissions from delivery trucks, packaging waste and products which end up in landfills.

In 2022, campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) estimated emissions from trucking retail goods during Black Friday week peaked at 1.2 million tons of CO2, a 94% spike over an average week.

Is it making a difference?

'Make Amazon Pay Day', organised by UNI Global Union and activist group Progressive International, has been an annual event since 2020.

During this time Amazon's Black Friday profits have beaten records year-on-year. In 2023, Amazon said its Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping event was the "biggest ever" globally.

Amazon employs approximately 1.5 million full- and part-time employees in 2024 and unions say the retailer must pay them fairly, accusing the company of "spending millions" to stop workers from organising.

Across the world, low-income workers have been feeling the pinch of rising inflation and the higher cost of living since the COVID-19 pandemic, and these pressures have reduced the real value of minimum wages.

The International Labour Organization's (ILO) 2024-25 Global Wage Report found average wage growth has started to rise as inflation eases globally, but wage inequality is still declining at a slower pace in wealthier countries.

In September, Amazon said UK frontline operations employees would get a minimum starting pay of between 13.50 pounds ($17.10) and 14.50 pounds per hour, depending on location, an increase of 9.8%. 

In the same month, Amazon also beefed up pay for U.S. warehouse and delivery workers to an average total compensation of more than $29 per hour, when other benefits such as healthcare are included.

Aside from the protests, which Attac's spokesperson Vincent Drezet conceded were mostly symbolic, Amazon is also under pressure from challenges to its online dominance and working practices in courts and parliaments around the world. 

In the U.S. the firm was accused by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of illegally refusing to bargain with a union representing drivers employed by a contractor in October.

Amazon said the union was "misrepresenting the facts" and said there was no merit to any of the claims.

A British union filed a legal challenge against Amazon in July, accusing the company of inappropriately influencing warehouse workers to vote against unionisation.

Amazon said the company did not believe there was any legal merit in the complaint about the ballot process.

And in June, India's human rights commission asked the government to look into allegations of labour law violations at an Amazon warehouse near New Delhi over working conditions during that month's heatwave. Amazon said the safety and wellbeing of its associates and employees were its top priority.

(Reporting by Joanna Gill; Additional reporting David Sherfinski; Editing by Clar Ni Chonghaile.)