Paris (AFP)
Amazon workers, summoned by the government to better protect them from coronavirus, are called to strike as of Wednesday by the CFDT while SUD / Solidaires is calling for the closure of its sites and has filed a summons this sense, we learned from union sources.
"After unsuccessful discussions between union organizations and Amazon management since the start of the Covid-19 crisis and despite public orders from the government to ensure the health security of company employees, the situation has stalled ", explains the CFDT (2nd union) in a press release, calling" the employees to exercise their right to strike from this day ".
The Union Syndicale Solidaires at the same time "transmitted on Wednesday a request for summons to the Nanterre court to demand the closure of the six Amazon France Logistics sites under penalty of one million euros (1.180 M EUR) per day" , said AFP Laurent Degousée, in charge of Amazon at SUD / Solidaires (1st union).
According to him, "the labor inspectorates acted in a coordinated manner this weekend on the six sites of the group, and proceeded to four formal notices in Brétigny-sur-Orge (Essonne), Saran (Loiret), Lauwin-Planque ( North) and Montélimar (Drôme) ".
The labor inspectorate believes that the group has not put in place the conditions necessary to avoid a "dangerous situation" on these four sites and has given notice to Amazon to establish sufficient conditions.
Despite this, "the management of the company confirmed to union representatives that it still refused to question its organization of work which we describe as dangerous for the employees, their health and their lives", underlines the CFDT in its text .
"Rather than assuming its responsibilities, Amazon is piling up unnecessary measures such as taking the temperature which generates concentrations of employees with a high risk of contamination or by hiring + safety angels +, temporary workers responsible for enforcing a distance of two meters ( between two employees), while even a meter is impossible, 500 employees working permanently at the same time on a site, "denounced Mr. Degousée.
"Eleven files of employees were also sent to the industrial tribunals of Nanterre in order to assert their right of withdrawal and the maintenance of their wages," he added.
Amazon France includes six logistics warehouses which then ship the parcels to dozens of distribution platforms, delivered to the deliverers, according to Mr. Dégousée.
© 2020 AFP