Amazon reopened its six French warehouses on Tuesday, May 19, after more than a month of closure, following court decisions. They had actually been closed since April 16, after two judgments directing the company to carry out a risk assessment of the coronavirus with staff representatives. The Versailles Court of Appeal ordered the group to carry out an assessment of the risks associated with coronavirus within the company and to reduce its activity by then, under penalty of 100,000 euros per violation found. The Versailles Court of Appeal had, however, opened the list of products available for sale to high-tech, IT, office, animal, health and body care, nutrition, drugstore, grocery, beverage and maintenance products.
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Considering that these decisions were impossible to apply without risking an offense and assessing the risk at more than one billion euros per week, the American giant had preferred to close its centers. However, the activity was maintained from its warehouses in Europe.
Amazon France welcomed the dialogue with employee representatives and said that“At the end of the consultation, the two parties agreed to abandon the pending appeals”, stating that “This includes the decision to bring the case before the Court of Cassation”.
The recovery to 100% should be spread over three weeks, employees resuming work “on a voluntary basis”, as was specified Tuesday, May 19, the director general of Amazon France, Frédéric Duval.
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