We will distribute leaflets and say something about Amazon:
the rates are rising, the wages are low.
Thousands of temp workers have no stable employment,
but can be sacked from one week to the next...
Amazon Workers Meeting Poznan, September 2015
We are here to represent the striking and organized
colleagues from Amazon Germany here in Poland
and to join the struggles of the Polish colleagues
and struggles of the German colleagues at Amazon.
Amazon is an international corporation
which - in those countries were it has sites [warehouses] -
pays hardly any taxes, exploits the infrastructure,
does allow its workers hardly any participation [in decision making] -
and it is necessary to put an end to that.
- Why do you wear a mask?
Because I still have a green badge
(i.e. I am working for Amazon through a temp agency).
I cannot show my face,
because I have not openly revealed my union membership.
- Both of you came here for the meeting. What are your expectations?
We expect, that we do something,
that we can tell the others what is happening in warehouse POZ 1,
so that Berlin knows, what is going on here.
That means, an exchange of information between the warehouses,
between our FCs [Fulfillment Center] and the German FC.
During such a meeting with the colleagues from Germany
- and also French were supposed to come -
you learn more about what is going on in other Amazon FCs,
in other countries, how they act there,
what they do, what they organize.
So you always learn something there.
My name is Christian Krähling.
I have worked at Amazon in Bad Hersfeld since 2009.
I started there as a temp worker for the Christmas period.
Amazon opened in Bad Hersfeld in 1999.
Until 2005/06 no bigger problems occurred.
The company has been growing, it was established on the European level.
It expanded further in Europe.
Since 2005/06, in our warehouse the wages haven't been raised anymore.
Many people were hired, just with fixed-term contracts
and with precarious conditions.
A further big problem was the pressure to perform.
Basically, Amazon demanded piece work with norms.
The norms were continuously raised,
but the wage was not raised accordingly, of course.
Still, Amazon demanded ever increasing performances.
The colleagues were put under psychological pressure.
Since they only had fixed-term contracts,
they could be told, if you don't reach the norms
your contract might not get extended.
We had many other problems
it was very hot in the warehouse,
people collapsed, the supervisors showed no respect for colleagues,
we had long commutes,
you had long waiting periods at the parking lot,
and many more problems I cannot all mention here.
About 2011, we started to organize.
The union Verdi had a so-called "organizing"-project.
That was an unusual approach in Germany,
i.e. people were organized on the grassroots level
and the workers on the grassroots level
basically decided what the problems were
and how they should be solved.
We were asked to find that out by ourselves.
Basically, we were just given some time and a room
so we could meet, and then we identified our problems
and tried to find solutions.
That way we started to organize on the grassroots level.
Obviously, we have asked the management
to negotiate all the conditions with us.
In Germany, this is usually solved through collective agreements.
So we asked the management to regulate all this through a collective agreement.
The management refused.
We drew the conclusion and started a labor dispute, i.e. a strike.
Since we started going on strike, wage increases were rediscovered,
we have almost no fixed-term contracts anymore,
we have almost 100 percent permanent contracts,
suddenly they are very nice to the people,
the people dare to contact the works council
and hand in complaints, etc.
We got coffee for free, air-conditioning was installed,
hundreds of improvements were introduced...
Still, we have not reached our goal, yet.
We want to be the dominant factor in the company,
we are the ones who perform, we produce the success
that's why we want to be the dominant factor,
we want to determine our working conditions ourselves.
We have not reached that goal, yet.
This is because we have to deal with the fact
that too many people are still afraid to lose their job,
that Amazon is too strong economically, as yet,
and we cannot hit Amazon with our strikes that much,
because Amazon can shift orders
from warehouse to warehouse.
That is one of the reasons why we are here today,
because we have realized at an early stage
that we have to link up with each other.
That started between the different warehouses in Germany,
and we quickly realized that we need to do this internationally, too.
Just one example: When the first warehouse was opened here in Poland,
the media in Germany reported: "Amazon leaves Germany,
and services the German market from Poland."
The day that was reported, I was at work,
and when I finished work, colleagues started their shift
and had heard this on the radio, and they came to work crying
because they were afraid.
- The colleague Christian from Germany said today,
that you can reach a lot through strikes,
and that you can win better working conditions in a struggle.
Do you also think so?
Yes, we also think so.
For example, this month we got a wage increase by 1 Zloty [per hour].
We won that in a struggle.
- 1 Zloty is not much.
Yes, that is not much. But fact is, we have won something in a struggle.
So things are moving forward. We are not standing still.
When the action was going on here, during our strike,
we reacted with enthusiasm.
This gives many people among us hope.
That's why we are here.
We want to push for better networking,
because we have realized that gives us a lot of strength.
We have been in a labor dispute for more than 2 years now,
and that is a long time, and you have to keep this up.
And we could not keep it up without new people joining again and again.
And if, for instance, the colleagues in Poland, who have the same problems,
would not realize that we can win the fight only together.
That's why we are here, we want to organize
and network in such a way
that we win this fight together.
Several attempts to organize this through union leaderships
- between Poland, France, [Germany] ... -
unfortunately, have so far not worked out as they should.
We have learned that, if this links up colleagues with colleagues,
it is much faster, much better, and much more effective,
and that's why we are here.