Verdi negotiator jorg lauenroth-mago said he expects 400 to 500 colleagues from the early and late shifts to participate in the strike. Amazon did not give any numbers, but explained: "the overwhelming majority of our employees did not follow this call, but worked regularly."There has been "no delay whatsoever" in the delivery of parcels.
The first strike this year was, according to verdi, a reaction to statements made by amazon management last week that collective bargaining would continue to be strictly rejected. Most recently, verdi went on strike at amazon's christmas stores in leipzig and bad hersfeld in northern hesse. While verdi spoke of delays at the time, amazon had always denied any traceable effects of the strike.
"If amazon continues to refuse negotiations, we will fight throughout germany and europe," announced verdi spokesman thomas schneider in leipzig on monday. The series of strikes from last year could continue with individual strike days, but also longer actions, said verdi negotiation leader jorg lauenroth-mago. "We will continue this until there are binding, regulated working conditions."The strikes began in may 2013 – and have so far failed to produce any results.
Amazon made it clear once again last wednesday that there would be no negotiations. "We are fundamentally convinced that a third partner in the company is always only the second best solution," armin cossmann, regional manager northeast, had explained during a plant visit in leipzig. With a starting salary of 9.55 euros and 10.99 euros after two years, the employees' pay is at the upper end of what is usual in logistics.
At the heart of the dispute is the question of whether amazon's business is trading or logistics. Wages in the retail sector are higher on average than in logistics. Dietmar jungling, head of the leipzig site, said: "a trade is a trade. We do not act."The shipping center in leipzig is a separate company that handles logistics for amazon. Verdi sees things differently and, according to negotiator lauenroth-mago, is preparing for a very long dispute. When and where the strikes would continue, the verdi official did not say.
Germany is amazon's largest market outside the u.S., ahead of japan and the u.K. Amazon employs more than 117,000 people worldwide. The dispatch warehouse in leipzig has around 2000 employees. In addition to leipzig, there are eight other sites in germany, two in bad hersfeld and one logistics center each in graben, rheinberg, werne, pforzheim, koblenz and brieselang.