Amazon workers strike in Germany

16 December 2013 Last updated at 14:22 GMT  Employees of the internet giant Amazon are taking strike action in Germany in a long-running pay dispute.

The Verdi union said workers were on strike at Amazon's logistic centres in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig and also in Graben. The action coincides with the busy Christmas shopping period.

Amazon employs more than 9,000 workers in Germany.

Later on Monday, a delegation of German workers will also protest at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle.

The union is planning further action on Tuesday in Germany in the town of Werne.

Amazon said 640 workers expected on the early shift had failed to turn up for work and that the industrial action would have little or no impact on orders: "Our customers can continue to rely on us for the prompt delivery of their Christmas presents," said a spokeswoman told Reuters.

The union said up to 700 workers joined the strike in Bad Hersfeld and another 200 had taken action in Leipzig.

The Verdi union added that action at the Graben site - the first strike at that plant - had been well supported.

Classification row

Amazon's sales in Germany are growing fast. Last year, they rose by 21% and the country is the firm's second-biggest market after the US, responsible for about a third of all overseas sales.

Verdi has called a series of strikes this year in an attempt to get the company to accept collective bargaining agreements for its staff.

It says Amazon is not paying them comparable rates to other warehouse staff in Germany, because the company has classified the staff as logistics workers, whose rates of pay are lower.

Verdi said in a statement: "The Amazon system is characterised by low wages, permanent performance pressure and short-term contracts."

Amazon says that they are well paid compared with other logistics workers in the country.

The union is also unhappy with what it calls the company's practice of "constant monitoring" of workers and what it says are impossible workplace targets.

Last month, an investigation by the BBC's Panorama programme into a UK-based Amazon warehouse found conditions a stress expert said could cause "mental and physical illness".

Prof Michael Marmot was shown secret filming of night shifts involving up to 11 miles of walking at the warehouse - where an undercover worker was expected to collect orders every 33 seconds.

Amazon told the BBC in a statement that worker safety was its "number one priority".

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Alumna’s Fulbright Fellowship Results in Book of Amazon Myths

When Fulbright scholar Mallory Massie ’11 wasn’t serving as a language assistant at the Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana in Iquitos, Peru, she was teaching creative writing. The Amazon myths and legends that her students wrote about will be published this spring in a book being funded by the United States Embassy in Lima, Peru.

“I’m really proud of all my students,” said Massie, an English and Spanish double major. “They all worked very hard and were fully engaged in the creative process.”

Massie earned a Fulbright scholarship to be an English teaching assistant in Peru from February to December of 2012. On weekdays, she assisted a language teacher at the university, but found the university didn’t have the financial or technological resources to support a proper English learning and writing program. Massie offered to teach a creative writing workshop, similar to the one she took at LMU, to help her students learn English and tap into their creativity.

“I loved sharing creative writing with my students, because my professors had shared it with me,” Massie said. “Creative writing moves students to explore, and it’s a great tool for motivation. Also, it can really help when a student is learning a second or third language.”

About 16 students met with Massie on the weekends for two hours. They wrote short stories and poems based on the myths and legends of the Amazon they grew up hearing. Massie submitted their work to the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru, which approved a book compilation. The book also includes a teaching component, so that it can be distributed to schools as a teaching resource as well. 

“It’s thrilling for the students to be able share the myths of their culture with the rest of Peru and the U.S.,” Massie said. “The stories are interesting, relevant and easy to understand.  It’s also a great reading tool that uses language in creative ways.”

Massie plans to pursue a master’s degree in bilingual education and get her teaching credentials. She hopes to teach English as a second language.

“I’ve always wanted to pursue teaching in some way,” Massie said. “I really appreciated this opportunity to explore and succeed.”

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