Amazon is spending another $500 million on bonuses for employees as it comes under pressure from a global campaign targeting its business practices and a strike in one of its biggest European markets.
The company announced the bonuses on the eve of Black Friday, as protests against Amazon in Germany and elsewhere were getting underway ahead of the busy shopping weekend.
Amazon’s senior vice president for worldwide operations, Dave Clark, said that front-line US employees will receive a $300 bonus, while part-time employees will get $150. UK employees will receive bonuses of £300 ($400) and £150 ($200), respectively.
Clark said in a statement that the company is spending $2.5 billion this year on “special bonuses and incentives” for teams globally, including the “thank you” bonus it paid workers in June.
Amazon has been one of few retailers to thrive amid the pandemic. The company expects revenues to exceed $100 billion for the first time in the fourth quarter, bringing total sales for 2020 to more than $370 billion — a third higher than last year.
Its performance has emboldened unions and civil society groups that argue it should go much further in its commitments to workers and the environment. Several dozen organizations, including Greenpeace, Oxfam, Progressive International and the Tax Justice Network, are using Black Friday to call attention to concerns about worker compensation and safety, as well as Amazon’s carbon footprint and tax practices.
Amazon’s warehouse employees in Germany start on a salary of between €11.30 ($13.49) and €12.70 ($15.16) per hour, depending on the site, according to Eichenseher. The country’s minimum wage is €9.35 ($11.16) per hour.
Walkouts and protests will be taking place on Black Friday in 15 countries around the world, according to UNI Global Union, including Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Spain and India. In Bangladesh, garment workers are demonstrating outside an Amazon supplier and demanding higher wages, UNI said.
Britain’s GMB Union on Friday called for a parliamentary inquiry into what it said were “dehumanizing” working conditions. A spokesperson for Amazon UK said that no strikes are taking place at any of its fulfillment centers in Britain.
“This is a series of misleading assertions by misinformed or self-interested groups who are using Amazon’s profile to further their individual causes,” Amazon said in response to the claims by unions and civil society groups that it is mistreating workers and the environment.
“Amazon has a strong track record of supporting our employees, our customers, and our communities, including providing safe working conditions, competitive wages and great benefits, leading on climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, and paying billions of pounds in taxes globally.”
