Gathered at the call of several associations including Youth for Climate, Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and Attac, protesters denounce the overconsumption and its ecological consequences on the occasion of Black Friday.

Dozens of people blocked Friday morning an Amazon warehouse in the suburbs of Lyon, while others gathered in sit-in in front of the French headquarters of the American giant near Paris, to denounce the occasion of Black Friday overconsumption and its ecological consequences.

In Saint-Priest, in the Rhone, a hundred environmental activists who had earlier blocked two entrances to the warehouse were being evacuated around 10 am, according to police and organizers. Images relayed on Twitter by the Extinction Rebellion movement showed young people evacuated unceremoniously by uniformed policemen. The movement denounced "unworthy violence".

# BlockFriday # ExtinctionRebellion # StopAmazon Construction of a barricade with the garbage picked up! pic.twitter.com/vXrPT1WEAQ

- Extinction Rebellion Lyon (@xr_lyon) November 29, 2019

Gathering at the call of several associations including Youth for Climate, Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace and Attac, protesters intended to denounce the very principle of Black Friday, "day dedicated to overconsumption and compulsive shopping," according to an activist Alternatiba ANV Rhone.

"We say stop at Black Friday"

Earlier, dozens of people gathered in front of Amazon's French headquarters in Clichy, in the Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris. Gathering in particular at the call of Attac and Greenpeace for this action presented as "non-violent and joyful", the demonstrators unfurled banners hostile to the giant of the on-line trade before sitting in front of the headquarters of the company screaming from: "We say stop at Black Friday and its impunity!"

"Civil disobedience"

"Today, Amazon has a state's greenhouse gas emissions," said Jean-Francois Julliard, director of Greenpeace France. "We need more than ever actions of civil disobedience because Amazon is a symbol of impunity", including tax, said the MEP LFI Manon Aubry, present alongside him as the MP LFI Clémentine Autain.

Already on Thursday several dozen activists of environmental movements had briefly blocked the distribution center of Amazon Brétigny-sur-Orge, in Essonne, to also denounce the environmental damage related to overconsumption. They had been dislodged after about two hours of action by the police. Eight people were arrested for "obstructing traffic," police said.

Germany: Amazon employees strike for Black Friday

Hundreds of employees of the American giant Amazon went on strike for better wages and working conditions Friday in Germany, on the occasion of the day of promotions of "Black Friday". The strike, called by the Verdi union, will last until Tuesday, disrupting the activity of Monday, another day of promotion on online sales.

The American company has experienced repeated strikes in Germany and other countries in recent years. Last year, "Black Friday" was marked by work stoppages in Spain, Germany and Great Britain.