German labor union Verdi called on workers at Amazon.com to stage a strike in the country on Tuesday to put pressure on the global internet retailer to improve pay and benefits.<\/p>\n
Amazon employs around 9,000 people in Germany and has come under fire from trade union Verdi for refusing to implement a collective agreement on employment conditions, similar to other mail order and retail firms.<\/p>\n
Amazon’s German operations were not immediately available to comment.<\/p>\n
The union is also pressing for higher basic pay and bigger supplements for night shifts.<\/p>\n
Verdi said in a statement on Tuesday that the strike was slated to start at 6 a.m. local time (12 a.m. EDT) and would last until the end of the late shift.<\/p>\n
In the eastern city of Leipzig, the union is calling for starting pay of 10.66 euros ($13.84) an hour, compared with 9.30 euros now. In Bad Hersfeld, they want pay of 9.83 euro to be increased to 12.18.<\/p>\n
($1 = 0.7703 euros)<\/p>\n
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