Amazon asked the police in Spain to intervene in a mbad strike at a warehouse outside Madrid, according to local reports.

Amazon wanted a police presence in the warehouse to ensure that productivity remained high within the compliance center, while workers organized their protest outside, according to the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial.

A source from the Spanish union CCOO, which helped coordinate the strikes, told Business Insider that Amazon "wanted to send the police inside the warehouse to force people to work."

Amazon strongly denied the claims and called it "the worst kind of misinformation."

The dispute erupted when thousands of workers from the Amazon in Europe organized strikes on Black Friday in protest of the conditions of work in the warehouse. Some 1,600 employees left Spain.

Read more: & # 39; We're not robots & # 39 ;: thousands of Amazon workers in Europe are attacking Black Friday for the conditions of work in the warehouse

The Spanish newspaper El Confidencial reported that Amazon met with police officials after the strike was announced. He wanted local officials to "force employees to go to their respective jobs and ensure that their performance was identical to that of a normal work day."

Amazon's request from the police "stupefied", according to El Confidencial. "The request was categorically rejected by the police, who maintained that the control of labor productivity does not fall within their powers," said a police source.

Law enforcement officials would have emphasized to Amazon that Spanish law protects the right to strike of workers. They told the company that the police would be present at the strike, but that they would just keep the peace.

Police presence in an Amazon warehouse outside of Madrid, Spain, on Black Friday 2018. AP

Amazon denied having asked the police to intervene in the strike. A spokeswoman told Business Insider:

"Amazon is a responsible business that puts its customers and badociates first, we always work with public authorities, including the police, to guarantee the safety of our people and our operations.

"However, any suggestion that we have used this relationship inappropriately is categorically incorrect – anyone who understands the way companies and local authorities operate will know that these ridiculous suggestions are the worst kind of misinformation."

The Madrid police were not available to comment.

This is not the first time that Amazon asks the police to intervene in the protests of the Amazon stores in Spain, says El Confidencial. When the workers went on strike on Prime Day in July, he said Amazon asked the police to guarantee access to workers who cross the picket line and trucks that transport goods. The strikes in July led to clashes with the police, including some arrests.