FAU-IAA, Direct Action #231 - The fight against Amazon - The
ongoing Anarcho-syndicalist struggle in Poznan against oppressive
working conditions (de) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Even in the cutthroat world of the ever expanding e-commerce industry, Amazon is fast
garnering itself a reputation for exploitative practices and total disregard for the
dignity and well-being of its workers. ---- In recent months, exposés from mainstream
media have helped to bring to the attention of the wider public a series of seemingly
never-ending instances of serious malpractice and oppressive working conditions,
characterised by managerial indifference and capitalistic callousness. Perhaps most
famously was the case of Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, USA, where it was reported in 2011
that Amazon shop floor workers were required to work in summer conditions that at times
exceeded 40°C, with management refusing to open loading bay doors so as to discourage
theft. When workers literally began to drop from heat exhaustion, Amazon's response was to
pay medical staff to wait, on call, around the corner in ambulances, ready to cart away to
hospital those workers who were unable to continue.Amazon management seems to pride itself
on their high rate of employee turnover. The median employee tenure is around a year, with
less than fifteen percent of staff at Amazon having been employed for more than five
years. Those that leave often cite their working conditions as the principle reason.
Employees' every move is tracked by sophisticated electronic systems, and they are
required to explain any discrepancy in their movements over the course of a day.
ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST IP CAMPAIGNS FOR IMPROVED CONDITIONS
Amazon's utter contempt for its workers is typified In the Polish city of Poznan, where
the worker's struggle against oppressive shop floor working conditions is ongoing. Many
workers have organised themselves within the anarcho-syndicalist union Inicjatywa
Pracownicza (Workers' Initiative), and hundreds have protested against rising norms,
mandatory working on holidays, low pay and the alteration of preexisting shift patterns by
management. The struggle of these workers in Poland is intrinsically linked to the
struggle of their German colleagues, organised in the mainstream union ver.di, across the
border, where workers have been locked in a struggle with management for improved
conditions since early 2013. Strikes in Germany have had a knock-on effect in Poland, with
Amazon management looking to offset the disruption caused by German workers by increasing
the number of hours worked by their Polish counterparts.
Workers in Germany have been at odds with Amazon management for some time. Shop floor
workers have pushed for a collective bargaining agreement that would see them regarded as
mail order and retail sector employees, rather than logistics workers, who are paid less.
Amazon workers are paid significantly below the average wage for a worker in the mail
order and retail sector. A delegation of Polish workers joined their German colleagues in
occupations and information picket lines in Germany, while German workers expressed
solidarity with their Polish counterparts, joining them for meetings in Poznan and at the
anti-precarity demonstration in Warsaw on the 25th of May. Strengthened by each other's
resolve and solidarity, the militant mood in both countries grew. Workers in Poznan, angry
at the increase in hours that was a result of industrial action across the border in
Germany, approached
Inicjatywa Pracownicza in an effort to improve their working conditions. When shifts were
increased from ten to eleven hours to accommodate the German strike on June 24th and 25th
(though Amazon denied that was the reason), Polish workers expressed discontent by
purposefully slowing down during the extra hours (something not explicitly organised by
IP), as well as wearing t-shirts expressing solidarity with efforts in Germany. Amazon
responded by suspending five workers and firing a further two.After the slowdown, IP
(whose members number have swelled to over 200 in a workplace of 2000 permanent workers)
began the process of collective negotiation, demanding an increase in wages to 16 zloty
per hour (from 13 zloty), employee share options, wage supplements for experienced
workers, the introduction of shift plans for a whole year and a work break regulation that
was based on real break times. Leafleting actions and petitions have also taken place.
THE INGLORIOUS ROLE OF THE "SOLIDARNOSC"
It is worth noting the reaction of one of Poland's more mainstream unions, Solidarnosc,
who are themselves attempting to organise Amazon workers in Wroclaw and who criticised the
actions of IP as confrontational, preferring to continue a dialogue with Amazon 'in the
spirit of mutual respect'. The results of IP's efforts, however, speak for themselves.
Amazon, rocked by the negative media publicity generated from these actions, raised wages
on the shop floor to 14 zloty, but denied that it was a reaction to the actions of the
shop floor workers, and continues to oppose the remaining IP demands. Legal proceedings
regarding the two fired workers have begun, with assistance from IP.
Several negotiation sessions have taken place between Amazon management and the union, so
far yielding no results. The last session of collective negotiations is due to take place
on the 7th of September (four days before the International Amazon Workers meeting in the
city), after which it will go into mediation. IP is preparing for potential strike action
in the event of no discernable progress being made.
James Lavery
https://www.direkteaktion.org/231/the-fight-against-amazon
