A big German union fights to preserve national pay standards

FOR EIGHT CONSECUTIVE years ver.di, Germany’s second-biggest trade union, has called a strike during the pre-holiday season at Amazon’s fulfilment centres, the vast warehouses where packages are prepared for delivery. This year the tradition continued. Around 2,500 Amazon employees at seven centres walked out on November 2nd. The union warned that the strikes could continue up to Christmas.Ver.di demands an“immediate” salary increase of 3% this year, followed by 1.7% next year, in line with a collective labour agreement for the retail sector. Amazon is making heaps of money in Germany and cannot continue to “refuse wage increases that other companies in the sector pay”, says Orhan Akman of ver.di. Mr Akman vows not to give up as strikes in previous years yielded results. Union pressure forced Amazon to increase wages several times, he states.