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The Star
5 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Unions says Amazon 'Prime Day' puts extra strain on workers
BRUSSELS: Dehumanised and disposable is how Amazon workers in Poland, Germany and France described how they felt working in the online retail giant's warehouses. "You are no longer Julie or Ludovic, you are number 412, and you can be replaced by number 313," El Djoudi Laouedj, an area manager and trade union member at Amazon's Lauwin-Planque warehouse in France told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. With Amazon's global Prime Day deals taking place between July 8-11, there will be even more deliveries to prepare during the longest sale yet, in which the company typically does 1-2% of its annual business. In interviews, European warehouse workers and union representatives said Prime Day meant extra hours in sometimes sweltering temperatures and a heightened risk of injuries. A report commissioned by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders' office last year found the shopping event was a "major source of injuries" for workers in the United States. The company, the biggest US online retailer, said its goal was to have the "safest workplaces in our industries". It said it had invested more than US$2bil (RM 8.51bil) in safety improvements since 2019, and that injuries requiring more than basic first aid were down 34% in the past five years. Amazon workers and labour leaders told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they wanted the e-commerce giant to come to the bargaining table and make work more sustainable. "It's a company that has created lots of jobs around the world. We don't want Amazon to close," said Laouedj. "We want conditions to improve." 'Continual stress' Prime Day has turned July, typically a slow time for retailers, into a season when shoppers look for bargains. Although not officially requested by management or artificial intelligence tools used by workers, the pressure of extra Prime Day orders is "felt on the floor" of the warehouse, Laouedj said, as trucks need to be filled and orders despatched. "Thank god we can still go to the toilet, but if we take too long a manager will come to check," said Habib Latreche, a logistics operator and Yellow Vest union member. The pressure to work at a dangerous pace, performing repetitive motions, with sometimes broken cooling systems, can lead to injuries, a situation that has worsened in recent years, according to workers. "It creates a continual stress, we have to work well and we have be safe, but we have to work fast," Latreche said, adding that workers were the ones "paying the price" of ever-faster deliveries. The pace of work and repetitive movements can result in a musculoskeletal disorder, commonly known as strain and sprains, which make up 57% of all recordable injuries at Amazon globally, according to the company. To address this, Amazon has invested in safety improvements including adjustable height workstations, and robotic systems that handle repetitive tasks and heavy lifting, as well as measures to prevent heat stress. Yet some German workers still criticise the high pressure to perform, and constant digital monitoring, leading to high levels of psychological stress, according to Monika Di Silvestre, trade union secretary of UNI Europa affiliate union in Germany. Some workers in Polish warehouses said the pressure was relentless. Agata Wypior, leader of Solidarity Amazon Poland, said according to the union's survey, more than 44% of employees gave up breaks to meet a target. "Amazon sets targets through artificial intelligence that only a robot, not a human, can meet," Wypior said, adding that the pressure was not limited to peak periods. "We have Prime Day every day". Asked about the workers' comments, an Amazon spokesperson said in emailed responses: "The safety and wellbeing of our people is our top priority. We assess performance based on safe and achievable expectations and take into account time and tenure, peer performance and adherence to safe work practices." The company also says performance is only measured when an employee is at their station and logged in. It also said internal data showed that around 80% of employees in Poland eat at the canteen and the rest bring their own meals. Humans not robots Adding to the pressure is the fear of being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. "A human gets sick, pregnant, injured, a robot doesn't," Laouedj said. Robotisation is a recurrent theme in union discussions across Europe, as the company rolls out more robotics in its depots. In response to questions over automation, Amazon cited a study commissioned with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year that found that 60% of employees across nine countries who work with robotics and AI expect positive impacts on their productivity and safety. To address workers' fears, unions are calling for safer workplaces and relief from relentless pressure, a battle that has spread to the political arena. EU lawmakers have stepped up their scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon. During a parliamentary hearing on June 26, senior company leaders were invited to answer questions on labour practices, but lawmakers and Amazon disagreed over which executives should attend to answer questions. "We remain open to dialogue about our commitment to being a responsible employer in Europe," the Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions over whether it would be willing to attend a new hearing in Brussels. Workers remain hopeful of driving change, and in some cases a return to working conditions that existed when they first started work a decade ago. Some even cite the firm's 'Day One' culture of not getting complacent after achieving success. "They say it's always Day One at Amazon. So we can always go back to being amazed. I still hope so," said Wypior. – Thomson Reuters Foundation
USA Today
6 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Amazon Prime Day pushes warehouse workers to breaking point, say European unions
Dehumanized and disposable is how Amazon workers in Poland, Germany and France described how they felt working in the online retail giant's warehouses. "You are no longer Julie or Ludovic, you are number 412, and you can be replaced by number 313," El Djoudi Laouedj, an area manager and trade union member at Amazon's Lauwin-Planque warehouse in France told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. With Amazon's global Prime Day deals taking place between July 8-11, there will be even more deliveries to prepare during the longest sale yet, in which the company typically does 1-2% of its annual business. In interviews, European warehouse workers and union representatives said Prime Day meant extra hours in sometimes sweltering temperatures and a heightened risk of injuries. A report commissioned by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders' office last year found the shopping event was a "major source of injuries" for workers in the United States. The company, the biggest U.S. online retailer, said its goal was to have the "safest workplaces in our industries". It said it had invested more than $2 billion in safety improvements since 2019, and that injuries requiring more than basic first aid were down 34% in the past five years. Amazon workers and labor leaders told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they wanted the e-commerce giant to come to the bargaining table and make work more sustainable. "It's a company that has created lots of jobs around the world. We don't want Amazon to close," said Laouedj. "We want conditions to improve." Amazon Prime Day sales: Tariffs shake up Prime Day as sellers pull out, shoppers hold back 'Continual stress' Prime Day has turned July, typically a slow time for retailers, into a season when shoppers look for bargains. Although not officially requested by management or artificial intelligence tools used by workers, the pressure of extra Prime Day orders is "felt on the floor" of the warehouse, Laouedj said, as trucks need to be filled and orders despatched. "Thank god we can still go to the toilet, but if we take too long a manager will come to check," said Habib Latreche, a logistics operator and Yellow Vest union member. The pressure to work at a dangerous pace, performing repetitive motions, with sometimes broken cooling systems, can lead to injuries, a situation that has worsened in recent years, according to workers. "It creates a continual stress, we have to work well and we have be safe, but we have to work fast," Latreche said, adding that workers were the ones "paying the price" of ever-faster deliveries. The pace of work and repetitive movements can result in a musculoskeletal disorder, commonly known as strain and sprains, which make up 57% of all recordable injuries at Amazon globally, according to the company. To address this, Amazon has invested in safety improvements including adjustable height workstations, and robotic systems that handle repetitive tasks and heavy lifting, as well as measures to prevent heat stress. Yet some German workers still criticize the high pressure to perform, and constant digital monitoring, leading to high levels of psychological stress, according to Monika Di Silvestre, trade union secretary of UNI Europa affiliate union in Germany. Some workers in Polish warehouses said the pressure was relentless. Agata Wypior, leader of Solidarity Amazon Poland, said according to the union's survey, more than 44% of employees gave up breaks to meet a target. "Amazon sets targets through artificial intelligence that only a robot, not a human, can meet," Wypior said, adding that the pressure was not limited to peak periods. "We have Prime Day every day". Asked about the workers' comments, an Amazon spokesperson said in emailed responses: "The safety and wellbeing of our people is our top priority. We assess performance based on safe and achievable expectations and take into account time and tenure, peer performance and adherence to safe work practices." The company also says performance is only measured when an employee is at their station and logged in. It also said internal data showed that around 80% of employees in Poland eat at the canteen and the rest bring their own meals. Humans, not robots Adding to the pressure is the fear of being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. "A human gets sick, pregnant, injured, a robot doesn't," Laouedj said. Robotization is a recurrent theme in union discussions across Europe, as the company rolls out more robotics in its depots. In response to questions over automation, Amazon cited a study commissioned with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year that found that 60% of employees across nine countries who work with robotics and AI expect positive impacts on their productivity and safety. To address workers' fears, unions are calling for safer workplaces and relief from relentless pressure, a battle that has spread to the political arena. EU lawmakers have stepped up their scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon. During a parliamentary hearing on June 26, senior company leaders were invited to answer questions on labor practices, but lawmakers and Amazon disagreed over which executives should attend to answer questions. "We remain open to dialogue about our commitment to being a responsible employer in Europe," the Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions over whether it would be willing to attend a new hearing in Brussels. Workers remain hopeful of driving change, and in some cases a return to working conditions that existed when they first started work a decade ago. Some even cite the firm's 'Day One' culture of not getting complacent after achieving success. "They say it's always Day One at Amazon. So we can always go back to being amazed. I still hope so," said Wypior. Reporting by Joanna Gill; Editing by Jon Hemming. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit
Mint
7 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Unions says Amazon Prime Day puts extra strain on workers
Prime Day shopping event to last four days Peak delivery time raises injury risk, says report Workers' unions call for safety over profit BRUSSELS, July 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - D ehumanised and disposable is how Amazon workers in Poland, Germany and France described how they felt working in the online retail giant's warehouses. "You are no longer Julie or Ludovic, you are number 412, and you can be replaced by number 313," El Djoudi Laouedj, an area manager and trade union member at Amazon's Lauwin-Planque warehouse in France told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. With Amazon's global Prime Day deals taking place between July 8-11, there will be even more deliveries to prepare during the longest sale yet, in which the company typically does 1-2% of its annual business. In interviews, European warehouse workers and union representatives said Prime Day meant extra hours in sometimes sweltering temperatures and a heightened risk of injuries. A report commissioned by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders' office last year found the shopping event was a "major source of injuries" for workers in the United States. The company, the biggest U.S. online retailer, said its goal was to have the "safest workplaces in our industries". It said it had invested more than $2 billion in safety improvements since 2019, and that injuries requiring more than basic first aid were down 34% in the past five years. Amazon workers and labour leaders told the Thomson Reuters Foundation they wanted the e-commerce giant to come to the bargaining table and make work more sustainable. "It's a company that has created lots of jobs around the world. We don't want Amazon to close," said Laouedj. "We want conditions to improve." Prime Day has turned July, typically a slow time for retailers, into a season when shoppers look for bargains. Although not officially requested by management or artificial intelligence tools used by workers, the pressure of extra Prime Day orders is "felt on the floor" of the warehouse, Laouedj said, as trucks need to be filled and orders despatched. "Thank god we can still go to the toilet, but if we take too long a manager will come to check," said Habib Latreche, a logistics operator and Yellow Vest union member. The pressure to work at a dangerous pace, performing repetitive motions, with sometimes broken cooling systems, can lead to injuries, a situation that has worsened in recent years, according to workers. "It creates a continual stress, we have to work well and we have be safe, but we have to work fast," Latreche said, adding that workers were the ones "paying the price" of ever-faster deliveries. The pace of work and repetitive movements can result in a musculoskeletal disorder, commonly known as strain and sprains, which make up 57% of all recordable injuries at Amazon globally, according to the company. To address this, Amazon has invested in safety improvements including adjustable height workstations, and robotic systems that handle repetitive tasks and heavy lifting, as well as measures to prevent heat stress. Yet some German workers still criticise the high pressure to perform, and constant digital monitoring, leading to high levels of psychological stress, according to Monika Di Silvestre, trade union secretary of UNI Europa affiliate union in Germany. Some workers in Polish warehouses said the pressure was relentless. Agata Wypior, leader of Solidarity Amazon Poland, said according to the union's survey, more than 44% of employees gave up breaks to meet a target. "Amazon sets targets through artificial intelligence that only a robot, not a human, can meet," Wypior said, adding that the pressure was not limited to peak periods. "We have Prime Day every day". Asked about the workers' comments, an Amazon spokesperson said in emailed responses: "The safety and wellbeing of our people is our top priority. We assess performance based on safe and achievable expectations and take into account time and tenure, peer performance and adherence to safe work practices." The company also says performance is only measured when an employee is at their station and logged in. It also said internal data showed that around 80% of employees in Poland eat at the canteen and the rest bring their own meals. Adding to the pressure is the fear of being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. "A human gets sick, pregnant, injured, a robot doesn't," Laouedj said. Robotisation is a recurrent theme in union discussions across Europe, as the company rolls out more robotics in its depots. In response to questions over automation, Amazon cited a study commissioned with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last year that found that 60% of employees across nine countries who work with robotics and AI expect positive impacts on their productivity and safety. To address workers' fears, unions are calling for safer workplaces and relief from relentless pressure, a battle that has spread to the political arena. EU lawmakers have stepped up their scrutiny of working conditions at Amazon. During a parliamentary hearing on June 26, senior company leaders were invited to answer questions on labour practices, but lawmakers and Amazon disagreed over which executives should attend to answer questions. "We remain open to dialogue about our commitment to being a responsible employer in Europe," the Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions over whether it would be willing to attend a new hearing in Brussels. Workers remain hopeful of driving change, and in some cases a return to working conditions that existed when they first started work a decade ago. Some even cite the firm's 'Day One' culture of not getting complacent after achieving success. "They say it's always Day One at Amazon. So we can always go back to being amazed. I still hope so," said Wypior. (Reporting by Joanna Gill; Editing by Jon Hemming. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit
Spectator
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
The quiet desperation of Macron's Greenland visit
Emmanuel Macron spent his Sunday in Greenland on what can best be described as an anti-Trump visit. The French president dropped in on the Danish autonomous territory en route to this week's G7 summit in Canada. Flanked by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland's Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Macron told reporters he was there in 'solidarity' with Greenland. Donald Trump has expressed his desire to annex the strategically important island but Macron said, 'everybody thinks − in France, in the European Union − that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken.' Macron is incapable of addressing France's issues, so instead he visits far-flung corners of the earth where locals will clap, wave flags and afford him a warmth that he has long since lost in his homeland Everybody? In truth very few people in France are losing sleep over Greenland. There are other more pressing issues: war in the Middle East, war in Ukraine, a cost of living crisis, the collapse of the country's borders and, as Macron himself admitted last week 'a senseless outpouring of violence'. The president made that statement hours after a playground supervisor had been fatally stabbed, with a 14-year-old boy charged with his murder. This is the latest act of appalling brutality that has shaken France in recent years. Macron is incapable of addressing any of these issues so instead he visits the more far-flung corners of the earth where locals will clap, wave flags and afford him a warmth that he has long since lost in his homeland. As Macron flew to Greenland a Sunday newspaper published an opinion poll that revealed his approval rating is at 21 per cent, a point above the record low of 2018, the year of the Yellow Vest crisis. The same poll found that the most popular politician is Bruno Retailleau, the straight-talking Interior Minister. Retailleau regularly talks about the 'Mexicanisation' of France, and the 'barbarians' who make the lives of the majority a misery. Macron, on the other hand, believes that there is nothing much wrong with France. Recently he declared that the French were being 'brainwashed' by the 'tyranny' of right-wing news channels into believing the country was being overrun by illegal immigrants, drug cartels and hoodlums. The timing of the president's comments couldn't have been more inopportune, coming shortly before the playground assistant was murdered outside the school gate. Macron is also out of step with his country when it comes to the environment. At the end of last month, parliament voted to abolish low-emission zones, one of Macron's flagship policies during his first term. Some of his own centrist MPs voted with the centre-right Republicans and Marine Le Pen's National Rally to defeat a policy they said targeted the poorest members of society. The zones, which began in 2019 and now encompass every urban area with a population above 150,000, ban cars registered before 1997. Macron described the vote as an 'historic error', adding that 'ecology necessarily means constraints'. His critics demur. The campaign to scrap the low-emission zones was led by the writer Alexandre Jardin. He accused Macron and his ilk of transforming green issues 'into a sport for the rich'. Jardin last week announced that his next target is wind farms, many more of which are planned by Macron. Critics claim they are unreliable and expensive, and likely to double consumers' bills. Wind farms, declared Jardin, are a 'green bobo [bourgeois bohemian] utopia, financed to the tune of billions… by whom? The poor, of course.' Within months of becoming president in 2017 Macron was being characterised as a privileged former banker and the 'president of the rich'. There is nothing unusual in that; most world leaders aren't short of a few bob, least of all Trump, who last week reported assets worth at least £1.17 billion. The difference between Trump and Macron, however, is that the American president acts in the interest of the less affluent, those most affected by mass immigration, deindustrialisation and net zero dogma. Macron ignores anxieties about these issues. He remains the president of the rich, feted in Greenland but loathed in France.
LeMonde
11-06-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Champions League final: 'No serious dysfunctions,' says Paris police prefect on violent clashes
Paris' police prefect, Laurent Nuñez, appeared before the MPs of the Assemblée Nationale's law committee on the evening of Tuesday, June 10, about the "serious dysfunctions that occurred (…) on the sidelines of the Champions League final" and asked to "shed light on the security plan put in place for the occasion." On May 31, as PSG faced Inter Milan in Munich, certain neighborhoods of the French capital were struck by looting, property damage and clashes. Footage of crowds surging onto Paris' ring road and clashing with law enforcement officers sparked questions about the security plan. Members of the radical-left La France Insoumise party argued that interior minister Bruno Retailleau should "be held accountable," while the far-right Rassemblement National condemned the night's events as a "security fiasco." Over the weekend, 491 people were taken into custody – a figure not seen since the first "Yellow Vest" protests, in December 2018. Nuñez tried to defend his officers' actions, which he said, as of June 1, had constituted "neither a success nor a failure." "We were dealing with people who, for a large majority, had only come to loot and destroy. (…) It was anything but a display of sporting joy," he said, taking pains to assert that PSG fans – including ultras – had not been involved in the violent acts. According to him, 70% of the arrested individuals came from Paris' inner and outer suburbs, and one third of them turned out to be minors.
