Dear Amazon colleagues and supporters,
we cordially invite you to the next Cross-border Meeting of Amazon Workers that will take place from September 27 to 29, 2019, in Leipzig/Germany.
This is a rank-and-file meeting organized by workers themselves. We want to exchange information, plan mutual support and find common strategies for our fight for better working conditions in the warehouses and beyond.
There is no formal organization or any particular trade union or trade union association behind the meeting. We invite all Amazon workers who want to fight the exploitative conditions we face every day to participate – whether individual or unionized, directly employed or employed by temp agencies or subcontractors, warehouse workers, drivers, office workers and technicians serving Amazon warehouses.
We started these meetings in spring 2015 and have met twice a year since. Employees and supporters from England, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the U.S.A. have participated so far, and we hope to welcome workers and supporters from other countries in the future, too.
The discussions have been fruitful and useful for our local initiatives, and we have managed to coordinate joint actions in different countries. For more information, please, have a look at the meetings’ statements on the blog https://amworkers.wordpress.com.
During our meetings we identified three main themes and problems:
1. wages and working conditions
2. control, “feedbacks” and other disciplinary measures
3. employment relations, including short-term contracts and temporary work.
At the meeting in Leipzig, we want to discuss in more depth the general strategy of our struggle and organizing. Strikes and other actions have already taken place in various countries in recent years, some of them coordinated across borders. Together with you we want to discuss which forms of action and common demands we need to develop in order to enforce improvements of our working conditions.
If you have any other specific issues that you would like to discuss at the meeting, please, let us know and we will include them in the agenda.
As part of the meeting, we are planning a public action in Leipzig to gain support for our struggle and build pressure on Amazon, to which we want to also invite the media and the community.
Organizational Issues
This is a meeting of Amazon employees and supporters who help organize struggles and take on concrete daily support tasks.
The meeting will start on Friday, September 27, at 6 p.m.
Please, make sure you arrive on time.
The meeting will end on Sunday, September 29, at 2 p.m.
Please, register by sending an email with precise information to amaworkers@tutanota.com – as soon as possible but not later than September 1, 2019. We need your registrations to prepare the meeting and arrange accommodation (in local hostels).
You will receive a detailed agenda and information on the exact location once you have registered. We will also send you a list of questions which you can discuss and answer with your colleagues in advance.
Please, write to us if you need financial support for travel expenses and we will try to find a solution.
The meeting will be held in several languages, and we will organize translation. Let us know if you need translation into a particular language and if you have other special needs.
While the meeting itself is just for workers and supporters, some events will be public. Media representatives and others who want to learn more about the struggle are invited to participate. The date, time and location of the public events will be announced before the meeting on the blog https://amworkers.wordpress.com.
amazing workers 