This Christmas, Amazon has taken on nearly 15,000 extra agency staff to deal with the Christmas shopping rush. But many of them won't earn enough to buy the bare essentials of life.
And that's not all Amazon does to demean its workers:
A sack-if-you're-sick policy that sees you turfed out if you take 3 sick breaks in a 3 month period
Giving workers 15 minute breaks that start wherever they are in the giant warehouses
10 hour days
Compulsory overtime
Monitoring and timing toilet breaks
Half-a-point if you're 1 minute late or more (3 points and you're out)
Paying the minimum wage or just above it, when it could well afford to pay the Living Wage
A 'performance console' that tracks and logs workers' activities so they can be released if their 'pick rate' is too slow
I don't know about you, but I find it pretty disgusting. Paying the Living Wage will be a big step in the right direction.
Amazon has more than enough money to pay its workers (both permanent employees and contracted agency workers) the
Living Wage. This is the wage needed to support a basic standard of living. With UK sales in 2012 of £4.2billion, you'd think Amazon could afford to pay its workers enough to be able to feed and clothe themselves and their families.
Amazon is an enormously successful company. This petition calls on Amazon to recognise the humanity of its workers and their very real needs.
Do what's best for your workers (permanent and agency) this Christmas, Amazon: become an accredited Living Wage employer across your UK operations. God knows, you could do with a good news story.
