Coronavirus: Amazon's French warehouses will gradually reopen

Amazon's warehouses had been closed since April 16, by decision of French justice. REUTERS / Pascal Rossignol / File Photo

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The six Amazon warehouses had been closed in France for a month by court order. They will reopen this Tuesday, May 19. The management of the American e-commerce giant and the French unions have reached an agreement. The 11,000 employees in France will resume work while respecting the protection measures against the coronavirus.

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The activity of the e-commerce giant is to resume this Tuesday, May 19 on French territory with 30% of the workforce, according to employee unions.

The reopening, sheltered from the coronavirus is good news for Laurent Degousée, delegate of Sud Commerce, the first Amazon union in France: "  What we wanted was to avoid that through the reopening, epidemic goes back to the warehouses. So, initially, only 50% of employees on a voluntary basis will return to warehouses, then 80% to reach 100% of staff in early June. There are some interesting things that have been put in place. There will be a daily reduction in working time by a quarter of an hour, which will allow the hundreds of employees on the morning shift not to cross those in the afternoon. Afterwards, there are still some points of dissatisfaction. For the moment, for example, Amazon management has not given up on the 350 withdrawal rights that were made in the period. But we will say that we will observe carefully. There is always an expertise in health and safety that is underway, the way in which this gradual recovery will be done. We are in a period when the economic imperative has to give way to the health imperative. It is in the interest of no one that the epidemic starts again in Amazon warehouses .

In early April, French justice had been seized by the employees after several cases of coronavirus on the Amazon sites. The group, founded by Jeff Bezos , was ordered to assess its barrier measures and limit its sales to products considered "essential" with penalties to the key in case of failure. Amazon preferred to close its sites.

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  • Trade and distribution
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  • Coronavirus