To ‘make Amazon pay’, Indian trade unions join Black Friday protest

The words “underpaid”, “overworked”, “insufficient breaks” reverberated around the sites where Indian trade unions joined their counterparts from around the world to stage protests against “sweatshop” Amazon.

“My stint (with Amazon) was similar to working at a sweatshop… 10-hour long shifts, low wages, insufficient breaks, and leaves,” said a former employee at Amazon’s packing warehouse near Manesar, Haryana, who, along with several other former employees of the e-commerce giant, gathered at Jantar Mantar to join the “Make Amazon Pay” protest.

The agitation was part of the global action day called by the Make Amazon Pay coalition formed by over 80 trade unions, civil society organisations, and environmentalists.