Amazon workers and campaigners mounted coordinated strikes and protests across more than 30 countries from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, pressing demands on pay, conditions, taxation and environmental impact, according to organisers and local unions.

Germany saw walkouts at multiple fulfilment centres as services union Verdi sought a collective bargaining agreement aligned with retail sector pay. Verdi said around 3,000 workers participated across sites including Bad Hersfeld, Dortmund, Frankenthal, Graben, Koblenz, Moenchengladbach, Rheinberg, Werne and Winsen. “For our colleagues, every day feels like Black Friday due to work intensification and arbitrary pay practices,” said Silke Zimmer, a member of Verdi’s national executive board.

The actions formed part of the Make Amazon Pay campaign, co-convened by UNI Global Union and Progressive International, with 2025 marking the movement’s sixth year.

Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union, said workers were resisting what she called a “techno-authoritarian future,” adding: “For years, Amazon has squashed workers’ right to democracy on the job through a union… Its model is deepening inequality and undermining the fundamental rights of workers to organise, bargain collectively, and demand safe, fair workplaces.”

Protests were planned across Europe, North America, Asia and beyond, including rallies in India and marches in Bangladesh highlighting supply chain conditions. In the United States, activists targeted the company’s government contracts on Cyber Monday.

David Adler, co-general coordinator of Progressive International, said Amazon had become “a pillar of a new authoritarian order built on surveillance and exploitation,” arguing that its technologies “are woven into systems of violence worldwide.”

Amazon said strikes would not significantly affect operations. A spokesperson said the company employs around 40,000 permanent logistics workers in Germany, with an additional 12,000 seasonal staff for the festive period, and maintained it offers fair wages. Globally, the company said the campaign “is being intentionally misleading and continues to promote a false narrative,” adding: “We provide great pay, great benefits, and great opportunities – all from day one.”

Amazon also said it matched 100 per cent of electricity used in its operations with renewable energy in 2023 and 2024 and had invested in more than 600 renewable projects worldwide. On tax, the company said corporate tax is paid on profits, noting its European stores business posted a loss last year and that it operates in compliance with local laws.

Workers and allies say rising productivity targets and heat exposure in warehouses remain central concerns. Neha Singh, a warehouse worker in Manesar, India, said: “During the heatwaves, the warehouse feels like a furnace — people faint, but the targets never stop… Amazon treats us as expendable. We are joining Make Amazon Pay to demand the most basic rights: safety, dignity, and the chance to go home alive.”

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