Workers in two Amazon facilities in Germany--in Leipzig and Bad Hersfeld--have voted to authorize a strike, Reuters reported. The negotiator for the trade union Verdi said that a strike against Amazon could come within weeks.
Amazon, which employs some 9,000 people in Germany, has refused to negotiate on a collective bargaining agreement with the union.
Reuters said that in Leipzig, the union wants "starting pay of 10.66 euros ($13.89) an hour, compared with 9.30 euros now. In Bad Hersfeld, they want pay of 9.83 euro to be increased to 12.18."
Peer Steinbrueck, the Social Democratic candidate for Chancellor in the national elections scheduled for September, visited Bad Hersfeld yesterday and met with labor representatives as well as the head of Amazon operations in Germany.