Strike, warehouse work reports mar Amazon holiday

Alistair Barr | USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO -- Amazon.com is expected to be the top destination for online holiday shopping again this year. But a strike in Germany and unfavorable reports about working conditions in the company's giant distribution warehouses are spoiling the festive mood.

About 800 to 900 workers at two of Amazon's German fulfillment centers went on strike Monday demanding a wage agreement similar to what's on offer elsewhere in the country's retail and mail-order sectors.

Officials at Ver.di, a big services union in Germany, warned that there may be more strikes during the holiday season unless Amazon negotiates -- something the company has said it does not plan do to.

Amazon's German business, its second largest after the U.S., has suffered from bouts of labor unrest since a TV documentary earlier this year showed seasonal workers brought in to help with the holiday rush being harassed by security guards.

Amazon quickly cut ties with the security firm in question and the company has defended the working conditions at its warehouses. However, the strike highlights the tension between Amazon's push for fast shipping and low prices and the experience of employees at its distribution centers.

The strike also sparked concern that Amazon may not be able to handle German customer orders as well this holiday.

"Amazon needs to make sure they have ample labor supply for the holiday rush," Colin Sebastian, an analyst at RW Baird, said.

The company is also in defensive mode in the U.K. after the BBC ran a TV program this week in which an undercover reporter worked at an Amazon fulfillment center there and ended a 10.5-hour night shift "absolutely shattered."

"We strongly refute the charge that Amazon exploits its employees in any way," the company said in a new section of its U.K. website which highlights the benefits of working in its fulfillment centers.

Amazon moved to a four-day, 10-hours-per-day, work week at its U.K. fulfillment centers recently. The company used to run on a five-day, 8-hour schedule.

An Amazon spokesman said the change was not made under pressure from critics of its warehouse work conditions. However, he said the move has been popular with warehouse workers because they get an extra day off and do not have to commute as much.

Amazon's approach to running its fulfillment centers is also coming under scrutiny in the U.S. Industry news website EcommerceBytes published a blog Tuesday from an unidentified person who it said got hired as a seasonal worker for three months at an Amazon warehouse in the U.S.

The person said that, despite regularly working out, they were unprepared for the physical challenge of working in a busy Amazon fulfillment center during the holidays.

"Now that we've gone to five 10 hr work days I've discovered my legs aren't in as good a shape as I thought," the person wrote. "By day two of this week my ankles are swollen and painful. By day four I'm down to the drug store talking about support stockings. I'm becoming concerned that standing for long hours on concrete floors is doing damage to my venous system."

Some newer seasonal workers have started to complain about the push for better production numbers from Amazon's floor managers, the person added in the blog.

"Many people have quit already." the person added. But on Monday another 60 or so new seasonal workers arrived for training, the person noted.