German Amazon workers strike over conditions

Amazon staff at German warehouses extended a strike yesterday in a long-running dispute over better pay and conditions, but the online retailer promised it would be able to deliver Christmas orders on time.

Labour union Verdi launched a three-day strike on Monday at five of Amazon’s nine distribution centres in Germany, adding a sixth warehouse from Tuesday, with more than 2,600 workers involved in the industrial action yesterday.

Verdi said in a statement that workers at four of those centres had decided to continue their strike until Saturday and employees at the Graben warehouse would strike until December 24.

An Amazon spokeswoman said the company had not seen any delays so far and had actually extended the deadline for customers to get gifts in time for Christmas Eve by normal delivery until 12 midday on Monday from 12 midnight on Sunday.

“We keep our customer promises,” she said.

Amazon said only a minority of staff had joined the strike, with around 19,000 working normally.

The US company employs almost 10,000 regular staff at its warehouses in Germany, its second-biggest market behind the US, as well as over 10,000 seasonal staff. It can also draw on 19 other warehouses across Europe.