Hundreds of Amazon employees in Germany went on strike over wage disputes on Monday, the company’s busiest day for orders last year.
About 640 workers were absent for the early shift on Monday but the company said no deliveries were affected by the strike, Reuters reports. Amazon had its peak 2012 order day on Dec. 16, with shipments peaking on Dec. 17. Amazon employs 9,000 warehouse workers as well as 14,000 seasonal workers across nine distribution centers in Germany, its second-biggest market after the United States. The latest protest is one of several strikes this year orchestrated by the German union Ver.di over collective bargaining rights. The union wants Amazon to accept an industry standard for workers’ pay, but regional company head Ralf Kleber said the company has no intention of negotiating.
Meanwhile, a delegation including two of the largest U.S. unions plan to stage a protest at Amazon headquarters in Seattle, Wash. on Monday, Marketwatch reports. Kleber said Amazon pays workers according to the logistics industry standard and that the largely unskilled staff does not fall under the more substantial mail order and retail industry terms.