The French subsidiary of Amazon is facing unprecedented social mobilization. Employees of the country’s eight major logistics centers responded to a movement launched by the intersyndicale (CGT, CAT, CFE-CGC, CFDT, South). They protest about the annual salary negotiation.
Employees demand a pay rise
This wave of protest was born three weeks ago in the logistics centers of Amazon France. The employees of Brétigny-sur-Orge, Boves, Saran, Montélimar, Lauwin-Planque, Metz, Senlis, and Sevrey are affected by this unprecedented mobilization. Everywhere in France, the teams of the French subsidiary of Amazon have the same claims. As specified on the Facebook page of the CGT of Amazon France Logistique, the employees are demanding a “salary increase in line with minimum inflation and worthy of the richest company in the world”. Negotiations quickly turned contentious.
Hydra Market: the hub of drugs on the darknet dismantled
1,200 employees have joined the movement at Amazon’s various logistics sites in France. Following this first large-scale mobilization, the management proposed a new meeting with the inter-union on April 14, 2022. The employees of the logistics centers are demanding a 5% increase when Amazon proposes to increase wages only by 3%. . The company also offers the renewal of the end-of-year bonus, an increase in the retirement indemnity, and new benefits for certain technicians. This is not enough for the employee representatives who are asking a general increase of 5%. In their demands, they highlight the increase in the cost of living.
Insecurity of remuneration in logistics centers
For several years, Amazon’s argument has been to say that the wages offered are higher than the minimum wage. If we take the remuneration of an order picker, it is now 26% higher than the minimum wage. As the minimum wage will increase on May 1, 2022, the difference will be ridiculous and the employees of the logistics centers of Amazon France will have lost this advantage. On the protest messages, the French employees directly challenge the big boss of the company: “Jeff, you’re very cute for thanking us for allowing you to travel in space, but us employees wish we could live properly and not survive”.
A report on working conditions at Amazon France Logistique published in December 2021 by the Proxega firm shows that salaries increased within the French subsidiary between 2019 and 2021. Indeed, we see that overall compensation would have increased on average of 4%. In reality, it is above all the variable part of salaries which has increased: from 11 to 18% for workers and 13% for executives. As the variable part is not really acquired over the long term by the employees of the logistics centers, the research firm interpret this as a “precarious pay”.