YCD News – Amazon Spain employees launched an indefinite strike last week to oppose the closure of Amazon’s logistics center in Martorelles, north of Barcelona. The 30,000-square-meter center in Martorelles, which opened in October 2017, will close on April 22.
Amazon says it will relocate its employees to logistics centers in other cities. But the truth is that the closure means it will fire most of its workers who cannot relocate to towns like Girona or Zaragoza, hundreds of kilometers away.
The logistics center in Martorelles has about 800 workers, of which only 190 are assigned to the factory closest to Martorelles, accounting for 20 percent of the factory’s workers.
Amazon’s move is aimed at collective firing, not reassignment, the report said. How to cope with the recession and cut costs is now a major concern for the $1 trillion market cap e-commerce giant.
The company declined to provide any reason for the closure, claiming it was just part of its “business strategy. However, the underlying reason is clear: by moving the center to Zaragoza province, Amazon will save about 30 percent or more in wages. Moreover, Zaragoza’s pay conditions are worse than Barcelona’s, and wages are lower. And, workers will also lose some of their old benefits, such as night bonuses or weekend hours.
The pay cut is particularly noticeable for lower-level employees, whose minimum monthly income will be reduced from 1,500 euros to 1,050 euros. It is worth noting that although Amazon offered workers a one-time relocation compensation of 6,000 euros, many workers were unwilling to move because the economic cost of moving was too great.
It is reported that workers who do not agree to relocate to other warehouses will be dismissed with compensation of 23 days’ salary, much lower than the compensation for normal dismissal, and the move will help Amazon save 20 to 30 million euros in expenses.
How am I going to work in Zaragoza or Figueres if I just bought an apartment?” said one of the workers participating in the strike. Another said, “They don’t respect us, they’re mistreating us.”
A mother of two said she would never relocate, “No one has promised me that they won’t do the same thing to me in a few years.” Another worker noted, “This Christmas they told us we broke production records, and a week later we learned they were closing the warehouse.”
YCD has learned that initially, the main union at the Martorelles logistics center, the General Union of Socialist Trade Unions (UGT), was receptive to the closure because Amazon said “the company would present a viable and fair option to the workers who were laid off.”
UGT President Esther Rodríguez called on workers to continue negotiations with Amazon for better pay, two weeks after the closure was announced on Jan. 23. However, the strike broke out and intensified as Amazon delayed giving the workers the terms they wanted.