The ARD television channel made the allegation in a documentary the online shopping giant Amazon employed security guards with neo-Nazi connections to intimidate its foreign workers. More than 5,000 temporary staff from across Europe works at Amazon’s German packing and distribution centres. ARD said the temporary staff worked eight-hour shifts packing goods at the company’s logistics centres in Bad Hersfeld, Konstanz and Augsburg. Many walked up to 17 kilometres per shift and all those taken on could be fired at will. On arrival, most were told their pay had been cut to below the rate promised when they applied for jobs at Amazon. According to a spokesman of trade union Ver.di the workers did not complain because they were all too frightened of being sent home without a job. In the meantime the case has led to investigations from the side of the Ministry of Labour and Amazon has terminated the cooperation with the agency that operated under the name H.E.S.S. The Austrian-based agency Trenkwalder that was involved as intermediate risks to lose its licence in Germany.
English: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/amazon-used-neonazi-guards ...
German: http://diepresse.com/home/wirtschaft/international/1346090/Dumpingloehne ...
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.