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Amazon warehouse workers in Germany could strike in the run-up to Christmas, affecting deliveries to customers during the crucial retail period.
Der Spiegel has reported that Heiner Reimann from trade union Verdi, speaking on behalf of the Amazon warehouse workers, said: “If I were Amazon I would not rely on being able to make all deliveries to customers on time before Christmas."
The union is locked in a dispute over workers’ pay with Amazon in Germany. The union is trying to convince Amazon to accept collective bargaining agreements for staff under the mail order and retail industry sector as benchmarks for warehouse workers’ pay at Amazon German distribution centres, but Amazon says the employees in its distribution centre are logistics workers and their pay is in line with benchmark wage for that industry.
The union Verdi has warned that it would call strikes when it would hurt Amazon the most and only “serious negotiations” with Amazon would prevent them.
However, a spokesperson for Amazon has said previous strikes did not affect deliveries to customers. "Job descriptions for staff are typical of the logistics industry such as the storage, packaging and dispatch of goods," said the spokesperson.
Earlier this year Amazon fired the security company it employed to oversee its warehouse operations last Christmas following reports that guards had intimidated staff.