Climate activists are locking down Amazon warehouses across the UK on Friday in an attempt to pressure the e-commerce giant on one of its busiest days of the year to improve things. working conditions and stop business activities that damage the environment.
Extinction Rebellion members targeted 13 Amazon fulfillment centers in the UK with the aim of disrupting 50% of the company’s Black Friday deliveries, marking the unofficial start of Amazon holiday shopping season.
Activists blocked the entrance to an Amazon warehouse in Tilbury, just east of London, with an effigy of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos perched on top of a rocket.
At Amazon’s distribution center in Dunfermline, Scotland, about 20 members of Extinction Rebellion unfurled banners en route that read “Make Amazon Pay” and locked themselves together, preventing trucks enter and some leave.
The group is demanding that Amazon provide better working conditions, clear environmental commitments and let the company pay its fair share of taxes.
This action is intended to draw attention to Amazon’s exploitative and environmentally destructive business practices, disregard for workers’ rights in the name of the company’s profits, as well as wastefulness, the group said. Black Friday Fees”.
Extinction Rebellion says it’s part of a broader international effort aimed at Amazon’s fulfillment centers in the US, Germany and the Netherlands.
Amazon did not directly address the protests in response to a request for comment, but said the company takes its responsibilities “very seriously.”
“That includes our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040 – 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement – providing excellent wages and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, while supported tens of thousands of small UK businesses to sell in store,” the company said.
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