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Spanish Amazon workers plan ‘Black Friday’ strike

Workers at Amazon's biggest logistics centre in Spain are planning to strike for eight days in November, December and January, including on the online retailer's "Black Friday" sales bonanza, a union said Wednesday.

Published: 15 November 2018 09:50 CET

Spanish Amazon workers plan 'Black Friday' strike

Boxes await delivery at the Amazon logistics center in San Fernando de Henares, near Madrid. Photo: AFP

The employees at Amazon's San Fernando de Henares facility near Madrid have been demanding better wages and work conditions for months and have already staged strikes this year, to no avail.

Ana Berceruelo of the CCOO union told AFP that 1,800 workers would have the opportunity to join the strike, although it is as yet unclear how many will take part.

The strikes will take place on November 23rd and 24th, or Amazon's mega “Black
Friday” sales bonanza, as well as December 7th, 9th, 15th, and 30th, and January 3rd and
4th — all “days of high workload for Amazon,” she said.

In a statement, Amazon insisted its workers in Spain had “a competitive salary and complete package of benefits,” adding it had created more than 2,000 permanent jobs in the country.

Spain to ban plastic packaging for food and vegetables from 2023

A ban on the sale of fruit and vegetables in plastic wrapping in supermarkets will come into effect in 2023. Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP

It also includes measures to encourage shoppers to buy loose fruit and vegetables and curb the sale of plastic bottles.

The ban on plastic wrapping for fruit and vegetables will apply to produce weighing under 1.5 kilograms. Meanwhile those “at risk of deteriorating when sold loose” will not be affected, according to Spanish newspaper El País.

The decree aims to incorporate European Union rules into Spain’s legislation, and follows similar legislation in France that will go into effect next year.

READ ALSO: This couple turned a desire for a zero-waste household into a thriving Madrid business

The goal is to “fight the overuse of packaging in the most effective way,” a ministry spokesperson told El País, adding that plastic pollution has “exceeded all limits.”

It will also aim to make 100% of packaging recyclable by 2030, as well as cut the sale of plastic bottles by half.

Rules forcing authorities to “encourage the installation of drinking fountains in public spaces”, “introduce alternatives to the sale of bottled drinks” and reduce “the distribution of single-use drinking cups” at public events, are also being contemplated.

Representatives of green groups welcomed the ban but added that the Spanish government is not moving fast enough to put a stop to plastic pollution.

“We drink plastic, we eat plastic and we breathe plastic,” Julio Barea of Greenpeace, told El País.

According to the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Spain generations 1.6 million tonnes of waste from plastic packaging every year, and recycles less than half. Two thirds of what goes to landfill is not recycled.

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