On Friday, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament met Amazon workers and trade union representatives in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands to discuss how to empower them to stand up to Amazon’s exploitation and abuses.
This Europe-wide action day was a pledge to take further steps to make Amazon pay decent wages and respect workers’ rights: Amazon must fully respect European rules and values if they want to make a profit in Europe.
"While Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos – who has recently reclaimed the title of the richest person on earth – is busy conquering space, its workers struggle to meet inhumane performance targets in abhorrent conditions for meagre pay," said Agnes Jongerius, S&D spokesperson for employment and social affairs.
"We have heard horrible cases of exploitation from workers’ testimonies when they talked to us in the Parliament in January. The least Amazon must do is fully respect workers’ rights – abiding by European rules and values," said Jongerius.
Will not stop here
In February, MEPs banned Amazon lobbyists from freely entering the Parliament after the company refused to participate in a parliamentary hearing and cancelled the official visit of parliamentarians to observe working conditions in its warehouses.
"We will not stop here," she said, announcing further concrete action to make Amazon company understand that European democracy and institutions must be respected.
“We demand that Amazon stop exploiting workers and bogus self-employed, and in particular stop using massive surveillance and AI to abuse employees and invade their privacy," Jongerius added.
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Additionally, S&D called on Amazon to respect the European social model and trade unions, which means engaging in collective bargaining, especially if the company wants to keep receiving public contracts. "We will keep fighting to make union busting a crime and to clamp down on Amazon’s attempts at disrupting and weakening trade unions."
"If Amazon is not willing to come to the European Parliament, MEPs will go directly to meet with workers and their trade union representatives," said Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary.
