Italian Amazon employees are protesting during the holiday season

Employees at Amazon’s distribution center near Piacenza (in Italy) do not want to work overtime for the remainder of the year because they feel the holiday season puts too much pressure on them.

Italy is catching up

The labour unions only want to talk to the board in January, but that is bad news for Amazon because the holiday season is one of the online retailer’s busiest periods of the year. Not only do the employees want adjusted time tables, they also want a part of the growing Italian profits. Local eCommerce still lags behind compared to the European average, but the country is catching up.

Amazon repeated its previous statement, saying that its logistic personnel’s wages are among the highest in the industry and that there are plenty of benefits for the employees. “At Amazon, we are committed to ensuring a fair cooperation with all our employees, granting valuable working conditions and a caring and inclusive environment in all our workplaces,” an Amazon spokeswoman said. Italian labour unions say that Amazon refuses to discuss possible changes. In order to put pressure on the company, the labour unions have tried to contact CEO Jeff Bezos and the Italian Minister of Work, Carlo Calenda.

The employees at the Italian distribution center also went on strike during Black Friday and the labour unions demanded to have a say about the working schedule and an adjusted bonus system.