Amazon employees in 20 countries are preparing to strike or protest on Black Friday as part of the “Make Amazon Pay” campaign.
The campaign includes a coalition of 70 organizations, including Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Amazon Workers International.
The protests come amid mounting dissent from Amazon employees over working condition and union busting.
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Individuals everywhere “from oil refineries, to factories, to warehouses, to data centers, to corporate offices” are expected to participate according to the campaign.
“Amazon is everywhere, involved in almost every step of the global economy, but we are too.” The coalition said in their website. “At every link in this chain of abuse, we are fighting back to Make Amazon Pay.”
They continued, “We are workers and activists divided by geography and our role in the global economy but united in our commitment to Make Amazon Pay fair wages, its taxes and for its impact on the planet.”
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The coalition also expressed their grievances on a downloadable document on their page, citing the pandemic’s lasting effect on workers and corporations:
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, Amazon became a trillion dollar corporation, with Bezos becoming the first person in history to amass $200 billion in personal wealth. Meanwhile, Amazon warehouse workers risked their lives as essential workers, and only briefly received an increase in pay.
“As Amazon’s corporate empire expands, so too has its carbon footprint, which is larger than two thirds of all countries in the world.
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Amazon’s growing delivery and cloud computer businesses are accelerating global climate breakdown.
“Like all major corporations, Amazon’s success would be impossible without the public institutions that citizens built together over generations.
But instead of giving back to the societies that helped it grow, the corporation starves them of tax revenue through its world beating efforts at tax dodging.
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In 2019, Amazon paid just 1.2% tax in the US, the country it is headquartered in, up from 0% the two previous years.
“Amazon is not alone in these bad practices but it sits at the heart of a failed system that drives the inequality, climate breakdown and democratic decay that scar our age.
The pandemic has exposed how Amazon places profits ahead of workers, society, and our planet. Amazon takes too much and gives back too little.”
The global protests are slated to take place on Black Friday 26 November 2021.
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