[GTranslate]Very high participation in the first general strike of Amazon’s Italian workers, organized yesterday by Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl and Uiltrasporti who speak of an average participation “of 75%, with peaks of 90% in some territories. It is a successful protest – explain the three trade union organizations, protagonists of the first strike in the history of the Seattle giant in Italy – even beyond our expectations considering that many workers feel ‘blackmail’ because they have atypical contracts and therefore have seen the protest as a risk to their precarious job” (in the pic by Filt-Cgil, some of the strikers).

A job, that of employees, with which “Amazon has grown enormously thanks to the boom in online commerce in times of pandemic and it is right that it redistributes part of this wealth also in terms of rights to its employees”. A real army, that of employees: 9,500 warehouse workers and 15,000 drivers.

Two things that, according to unions and workers, are unsustainable: shift schedules (they last a whole week: seven days in the morning, seven in the afternoon and seven at night) and the repetitiveness of work (those who work in the warehouse accuse pain in the legs, arms, wrists, according to the testimonies, collected by the Italian press, of some workers who were on strike yesterday). And then the tens and tens of kilometers traveled by the drivers every day.

“The company – the unions underline – has always refused to discuss with the unions the verification of shifts, loads and work rates imposed, the reduction of the working hours of drivers, the social clause and employment continuity for all in case of contract change or supplier change, stabilization of fixed times and temporary workers and compliance with health and safety regulations”.

“We expect Amazon to be convened in a very short time, so as not to be forced to continue the protest”, the unions conclude.

The company’s reply is ready. “The health and safety of our employees are our top priority. In all Amazon offices, job rotation is active, consistent with the new security measures implemented to keep employees safe in the current context of Covid-19. Employees are trained to be able to work in multiple areas, covering different duties”.

And on the repetitiveness of gestures during work, Amazon claims that “in each warehouse the ergonomic guidelines provided for by Italian legislation are fully respected and the international reference standards are used to evaluate the correct management of repetitive activities. The possibility of working on both processes direct (picking, packing, receiving, storage) and on the support ones (handling trolleys and transpallets) allows you to find the right balance in terms of repetition of the work activity “.

The all-Italian battle at home-Amazon has just begun.