No deliveries today from Amazon. The more than 40 thousand Italian workers of the entire supply chain of the online sales giant are on strike. It is the first time of a claim of this type in Italy but consumer associations do not agree with the initiative because in a country that is largely in the red zone it causes damage to the community.
The stop was decided for “a question of respect for work, dignity of workers and safety”. This is the appeal launched in recent days by the Filt Cgil, Fit-Cisl and Uiltrasporti unions against the breakdown of national negotiations on the renewal of the contract.
The workers’ protest, the first of its kind since Amazon landed in our country in 2020, will concern in particular the over 15 thousand drivers who physically deliver the parcels in front of their doors and who in this phase of the pandemic have proved to be an indispensable resource. The unions’ complaint is of overwork in conditions of poor security and inadequate wages. Drivers “work up to 44 hours a week and very often for the entire month. We touch peaks of 180/200 packages delivered per day, but no verification of the work shifts. No bargaining or confrontation with representative organizations on the imposed rhythms ”is the complaint that arrived in recent days with the request for solidarity from citizens and Amazon customers.
If those who prepare and deliver packages are constantly under pressure, inside the Amazon warehouses it is no better. “We work 8 and a half hours with a half hour lunch break” explains the appeal.
Amazon is among the few companies that have enormously multiplied their revenues during the pandemic: in the black year of Covid, sales increased by more than 40% compared to 2019 with a turnover jumped to 386 billion dollars globally and profits of almost 7 billion per quarter (data on Italy are not available). Now the colossus has to deal with the discontent of the workers. Other protests took place in Germany and the USA.
Amazon responds to the strike decision by stressing that with third-party delivery service providers it puts “its employees first, offering them a safe, modern and inclusive work environment, with competitive wages, benefits and excellent opportunities for professional growth.” Also remember that Amazon employees are initially hired at the 5th level of the Cccnl Transport and Logistics with an entry salary of 1,550 euros gross per month for full-time employees with a series of additional benefits. Couriers are hired with an entry salary of € 1,644 gross per month for full-time employees, and over € 300 net per month as a daily allowance. In addition, he mentions the bonuses of 300 and 500 euros administered last year and replies that the number of packages to be delivered is appropriately assigned and is based on the density of the delivery areas.
Associations also intervene on the Amazon strikeon the part of consumers but if on the one hand Consumerism No Profit is said to be opposed to “any type of strike that uses citizens for union-type claims” and Luigi Gabriele, president of the association, “in this moment of extended red zones impossibility of movement for users, delaying deliveries causes material damage to the community “on the other hand, Codacons adheres to the initiative” not for issues related to salaries but to guarantee better working conditions for employees “. The two associations agree on one point: this strike must be an opportunity for citizens to rediscover neighborhood shops that perform a real public service but which are too often disadvantaged by competition from e-commerce.