Strikes Hit Amazon in Germany in Run Up to Christmas

Around 2,500 Amazon employees at seven sites across Germany were on strike Tuesday and unions warned stoppages could continue up to Christmas.

The strikes at so-called "fulfilment" centers, where Amazon prepares packages before delivery, began in two locations on Monday.

The Verdi union is calling on Amazon for an "immediate" salary increase of three percent this year, followed by a further 1.7 percent next year, in line with a collective agreement for the retail sector, to which the e-commerce giant does not adhere.

Amazon could not continue to "refuse wage increases that other companies in the sector pay", Verdi retail head Orhan Akman said in a statement Monday.

Amazon, which operates 17 centers in Germany, argues it is a logistics company, a sector in which the terms of work are considered to be less burdensome for the employer.

Amazon said it did not expect the strike to have an impact on clients.

However, a Verdi spokesman said the stoppage could cause disruption, particularly in Amazon's rapid-delivery "Prime" offering. 

Strikes were likely to continue "until the end of the year", the spokesman said, impacting on the busy Christmas shopping period.

Verdi, which first called for strikes at Amazon in May 2013, organized demonstrations outside the fulfilment centers on Tuesday to protest poor working conditions.

Amazon -- which has seen its business boom during the coronavirus pandemic as consumers increasingly shopped online -- announced in September that it would open eight new centers in Germany, creating 3,000 jobs by 2022.