Amazon hit by Black Friday strikes and protests by workers in 20 countries

Similar Black Friday protests were held by Amazon workers last Black Friday as well.

What you need to know

• Make Amazon Pay and a few other labor organizations have called for a Black Friday labor strike in various countries.
• The organizations are demanding that Amazon change its policies to improve the workplace, provide job security to all, respect workers' universal rights, operate sustainably, and pay back to society.
• Make Amazon Pay was established last year after 50 organizations held protests against the retail giant in 16 countries.

This holiday shopping season could prove to be a major challenge for Amazon. Make Amazon Pay, which is a coalition of Amazon workers and labor organizations, has called for a strike this Black Friday weekend (via CNET). The Black Friday strike could affect Amazon's operations in 20 countries across the world — including Germany, France, the Netherlands, India, Brazil, and the U.S.

Make Amazon Pay wants the company to improve the workplace by raising workers' pay in all warehouses in line with its increasing wealth, negotiating adequate break time, suspending its harsh productivity and surveillance regime, extending paid sick leave to all workers, and disclosing its protocol for tracking and reporting COVID-19 cases.

Make Amazon Pay said in its demands document:

The pandemic has exposed how Amazon places profits ahead of workers, society, and our planet. Amazon takes too much and gives back too little. It is time to Make Amazon Pay.

Along with improving the workplace, Make Amazon Pay also wants Amazon to provide job security to all its workers by ending all forms of casual employment, establishing transparent procedures to allow workers to voice their concerns without fear of retaliation, and reinstating all workers that were fired for speaking up about issues related to the health and safety of employees.

Some of the other key demands of the coalition include ending union busting, respecting workers' right to organize, sharing power with workers, committing to zero emissions by 2030, putting an end to all anti-competitive business practices, and guaranteeing transparency over the use of consumers' data.