{"id":402,"date":"2017-11-12T11:51:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T10:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/makeamazonpay.org\/?p=402"},"modified":"2017-11-12T13:51:34","modified_gmt":"2017-11-12T12:51:34","slug":"open-letter-from-amazon-workers-to-their-colleagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/makeamazonpay.org\/en\/2017\/11\/12\/open-letter-from-amazon-workers-to-their-colleagues\/","title":{"rendered":"Open letter – from Amazon workers to their colleagues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During the discussions among international Amazon workers on “Make Amazon Pay”, the following open letter to their colleagues emerged. This letter will be distributed in different Amazon locations over the next few weeks. We are happy when the letter is printed spontaneously by you (see PDFs) to get into discussion with the workers of the next location.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

PDF version English<\/a><\/p>\n

PDF version French\/fran\u00e7ais<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

:ENGLISH VERSION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear colleagues!<\/p>\n

We write you this letter. We, that is workers from different Amazon warehouses in Germany, Poland, France, and England. More than two years ago we decided to organize regular cross-border meetings for an exchange.<\/p>\n

These meetings have taken place in several countries \u2013 with employees from Amazon (for instance, from FRA1, ORY1, LEJ1, POZ1, BER3, LTN2), among them also temp workers, members of various unions, some who are not in any union, and supporters.<\/p>\n

We think that we can only improve our working conditions if we organize across borders. We need the exchange about the daily work, about the tricks Amazon uses to increase the work pressure, and about effective means and forms of our collective actions.<\/p>\n

We invite you \u2013 Amazon workers, couriers who deliver for Amazon, temp workers \u2013 to participate in this exchange.<\/p>\n

Expansion and protests<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon expands globally, opens new warehouses, invests in new sectors, hires people as permanents, through temp agencies, as self-employed or subcontractors.<\/p>\n

We want to know how the work is organized where you are, what the people in the warehouse and in delivery have to do, and how you deal with the work every day.<\/p>\n

The exchange about these questions strengthens our position at the work- place. In case of strikes or other mobilizations among us, Amazon cannot as easy as otherwise forward orders to other warehouses and force the workers there to work faster. For instance, in June 2015, workers in the Amazon warehouse in Poznan (POZ1) started a slow down strike against scheduled overtime after they had heard that workers in Amazon ware- houses in Germany had gone on strike.<\/p>\n

Always nice and slow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many at Amazon have already organized, and there has been a series of strikes in the warehouses in the past few years. This has put Amazon under pressure so that the company had to increase the wages and treat the workers better \u2013 especially in the warehouses where the protests took place. In the long run these mobilizations can only stay successful if they don\u2019t happen in just a few warehouses or just in one country.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we organized collective actions across the borders. During the last Amazon prime week in July 2017, we distributed leaflets in warehouses in Poland, France, and Germany on the Safe Package action. The sickness rate in many Amazon warehouses is high because the work makes us sick. If we want to protect our health we need to avoid high work pressure and should not rush around as Amazon demands it. It is better to work slowly, strictly according to the work rules… and to pack \u201csafe packages\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Only when we organize and act together, can we keep Amazon at bay!<\/p>\n

Discussion and action<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of November, there will be two occasions to meet other wor- kers and people from the support groups.<\/p>\n

On November 23, 2017, the film Amazon makes us sick will be screened in Berlin. It is about the working conditions and the resistance at Amazon in Poland, France, and Germany. 8:00pm at k-fetisch, Wil- denbruchstrasse 86, Berlin-Neuko\u0308lln.<\/p>\n

On November 24, 2017, there will be a rally in front of the Amazon warehouse at Kudamm-Karree in Berlin as part of the action week Make Amazon Pay. A coalition calls for other actions around the warehouse, too. The aim is to highlight the bad working conditions, the degrading control and patronizing by Amazon and the lack of respect towards the workers in all Amazon warehouses. The coalition would also be happy if you get in contact.<\/p>\n

All information on Make Amazon Pay can be found at makeamazonpay.org<\/em><\/p>\n

:VERSION fran\u00e7ais<\/span><\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Che\u0300res et chers colle\u0300gues,<\/p>\n

Nous vous e\u0301crivons cette lettre. Nous, ce sont des travailleuses et travail- leurs de diffe\u0301rents centres de distributions d\u2019Amazon en Allemagne, Polo- gne, France et Angleterre. Depuis plus de deux ans de\u0301ja\u0300 nous avons de\u0301cide\u0301 d\u2019organiser des rencontres transfrontalie\u0300res re\u0301gulie\u0300res afin d\u2019e\u0301changer nos ide\u0301es.<\/p>\n

Ces rencontres ont eu lieu dans plusieurs pays \u2013 elles ont rassemble\u0301 des employe\u0301s d\u2019Amazon (entre autres de FRA1, ORY1, LEJ1, POZ1, BER3, LTN2) dont des travailleurs et travailleuses inte\u0301rimaires, des membres de divers syndicats, d\u2019autres sans appartenance syndicale et des sympathisantes et sympathisants.<\/p>\n

Nous pensons que nous ne pourrons ame\u0301liorer nos conditions de travail qu\u2019a\u0300 la condition de s\u2019organiser par-dela\u0300 les frontie\u0300res. Nous avons besoin d\u2019e\u0301changer sur le travail quotidien, sur les techniques que l\u2019entreprise em- ploie pour augmenter la pression au travail et sur les moyens et les formes avec lesquels nous pouvons re\u0301agir collectivement a\u0300 cela.<\/p>\n

Nous vous invitons \u2013 employe\u0301es et employe\u0301s d\u2019Amazon, coursie\u0300res et cour- siers qui livrent pour Amazon, travailleuses et travailleurs inte\u0301rimaires \u2013 a\u0300 participer a\u0300 ces e\u0301changes.<\/p>\n

Expansion et proteste<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon se de\u0301veloppe de manie\u0300re globale, ouvre de nouveaux entrepo\u0302ts, investit dans de nouveaux secteurs, emploie des personnes de manie\u0300re fixe par l\u2019interme\u0301diaires de boi\u0302tes d\u2019inte\u0301rim, de contrats de travailleurs inde\u0301pen- dants ou des sous-traitants.<\/p>\n

Nous voulons savoir comment le travail est organise\u0301 chez vous, qu\u2019est-ce que les gens dans les entrepo\u0302ts et pendant les livraisons doivent faire et comment vous vivez au quotidien avec ces emplois. Les e\u0301changes sur ces questions renforcent notre position au sein de l\u2019entreprise. Si nous de\u0301clen- chons des gre\u0300ves ou d\u2019autres formes de mobilisation, Amazon ne pourra plus aussi facilement reporter les commandes sur d\u2019autres sites et nous im- poser la\u0300-bas de travailler plus rapidement. C\u2019est ainsi qu\u2019une gre\u0300ve du ze\u0300le a e\u0301te\u0301 mise en place en juin 2015 dans un entrepo\u0302t a\u0300 Poznan (POZ1) contre l\u2019exigence d\u2019accroissement de la charge de travail, apre\u0300s que les employe\u0301s la\u0300-bas avaient appris qu\u2019au me\u0302me moment une gre\u0300ve avait e\u0301te\u0301 de\u0301clare\u0301e dans un entrepo\u0302t en Allemagne.<\/p>\n

Toujours lentement<\/strong><\/p>\n

De nombreuses personnes chez Amazon se sont d\u2019ores et de\u0301ja\u0300 rassemble\u0301es et un certain nombre de gre\u0300ves ont eu lieu ces dernie\u0300res anne\u0301es. Cela a mis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Amazon sous pression, tellement que l\u2019entreprise, et en particulier la\u0300 ou\u0300 ont eu lieu ces gre\u0300ves, a du\u0302 augmenter les salaires et mieux traiter les employe\u0301s. Sur le long terme, ces mobilisations ne peuvent e\u0302tre couronne\u0301es de succe\u0300s qu\u2019a\u0300 la condition de ne pas seulement avoir lieu dans quelques entrepo\u0302ts ou un seul pays.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est pourquoi nous organisons des actions communes par-dela\u0300 des fron- tie\u0300res. Pendant la dernie\u0300re Semaine d\u2019Amazon-Prime en juillet 2017, nous avons distribue\u0301 des tracts dans des entrepo\u0302ts en Pologne, France et Allema- gne a\u0300 propos de l\u2019action Safe Package (paquet su\u0302r). Le taux d\u2019arre\u0302t maladie dans de nombreux entrepo\u0302ts d\u2019Amazon est important parce que le travail nous rend malade. Si nous voulons sauver notre sante\u0301, nous devons e\u0301viter des pressions trop grandes au travail et les cadences infernales qu\u2019Amazon exige de nous. Il est donc recommande\u0301 de travailler lentement, de s\u2019attacher aux re\u0300glementations… et d\u2019empaqueter des \u00ab paquets su\u0302rs \u00bb.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est seulement si nous nous organisons et agissons ensemble que nous pourrons nous mesurer a\u0300 Amazon.<\/p>\n

Discussion et action<\/strong><\/p>\n

Il y aura des occasions de rencontrer des travailleuses, des travailleurs et d\u2019autres personnes des groupes solidaires a\u0300 la fin du mois de novembre :<\/p>\n

Le 23 novembre aura lieu a\u0300 Berlin une soire\u0301e d\u2019informations Amazon nous rend malade lors de laquelle nous parlerons des conditions de travail et des re\u0301sistances a\u0300 Amazon en Pologne, France et Allemagne. Les invite\u0301s seront des travailleurs et des travailleuses d\u2019Amazon d\u2019Allemagne et de Pologne. 20h au k-fetisch, Wildenbruchstr. 86, Berlin Neuko\u0308lln (U-bhf Rathaus Neuko\u0308lln).<\/p>\n

Le 24 novembre un rassemblement aura lieu dans le cadre de la semaine d\u2019action Make Amazon Pay devant l\u2019entrepo\u0302t d\u2019Amazon au Kudamm-Kar- ree a\u0300 Berlin. En plus, une alliance appelle a\u0300 d\u2019autres actions autour du rassemblement. Le but est, entre autres, de souligner les mauvaises condi- tions de travail, les contro\u0302les et les traitements de\u0301gradants d\u2019Amazon et le manque de respect pour les employe\u0301es et les employe\u0301s dans les entrepo\u0302ts. Cette alliance se re\u0301jouirait e\u0301galement d\u2019un e\u0301change avec vous.<\/p>\n

Toutes les informations sur: makeamazonpay.org<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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