FRANKFURT – Workers at six Amazon locations in Germany will strike on Monday in protest at safety after several staff at the logistics center tested positive for the corona virus, the Verdi union said.
Verdi said on Sunday that the strike would last at least 48 hours, under the motto ‘Good and healthy work’, to denounce what he called a lack of transparency by the US retail giant after workers tested positive for COVID-19.
“We have information that at least 30 to 40 coworkers are infected,” said Verdi’s representative, Orhan Akman.
Amazon has faced a longstanding battle with unions in Germany over wages and better conditions for logistics workers, who have been on strike frequently since 2013.
Verdi said the attack would hit Amazon sites in Leipzig, Bad Hersfeld, Rheinberg, Werne and Koblenz. It said Amazon puts profits above the safety of its workers.
Amazon rejected the allegations in a statement and said that in June it had invested $ 4 billion in measures to protect global workforce and clients from the risk of COVID-19 infection.
In Germany, its biggest market after the United States, Amazon since February ordered 470 million bottles of hand disinfection, 21 million pairs of gloves, 19 million masks and other face protective equipment and 39 million disinfectant tissue boxes, Amazon’s spokesman in Germany said.
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