Black Friday Protests Against Amazon Are Staged In Several Countries

A coalition of groups and organizations attempted to stage previously planned protests against Amazon in 25 countries around the world on Black Friday. It’s too early to gauge what impact — if any — the demonstrations had on the retailer’s operations or will have on their policies that protesters were seeking to change.

Although Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the impact the protests are having on operations, a spokesperson for Amazon told Reuters that, “We have a large network of sites across the UK and are working to minimize any potential disruption to customers.”

The actual demonstrations that were documented by news coverage or other means included:

United Kingdom

• The Mirror reported that “Extinction Rebellion was blocking blockading fulfillment centers at 13 sites across the UK.”
• The AP reported that, “At Amazon’s distribution center in Dunfermline, Scotland, about 20 Extinction Rebellion members strung banners across the entrance road that said ‘Make Amazon Pay’ and locked themselves together, stopping trucks from entering and some from leaving.”

Germany

• Reuters said, “In Germany, the company’s biggest market after the United States, the Verdi union said around 2,500 employees went on strike at Amazon shipping centers in Rheinberg, Koblenz and Graben.”

Netherlands

• Extinction Rebellion climate activists blocked the access to the distribution center of U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon in Rozenburg-Schiphol. (Source: Accompanying photo below.)

Brazil

• Dockers and union members took part in a global protest with a banner reading ‘Make Amazon Pay’ against Amazon, in downtown Santos, Sao Paulo state. (Source: accompanying photo)

‘Amazon Is In A Good Position’

Baruch Labunski is a marketing and reputation expert and CEO of Rank Secure. He observed that, “Amazon is in a good position both logistically and in its image in spite of the global protests. First, the company knew the protests were coming so they could prepare for short-term disruptions with additional inventory and contingency plans to offset the protestors’ attempt at supply chain interruption. It won’t thwart online shoppers from ordering either.             

Questionable Impact On Amazon’s Policies

Jay Zagorsky is a senior lecturer on markets, public policy and law at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He said yesterday that, “Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days. Will a strike against Amazon on Black Friday have an impact? I don’t think so.

“Strikes are effective when workers stop working at the moment a business really needs workers. The strike by Amazon workers is focused on places that don’t directly impact shopping, like factories and warehouses. Given [that] Amazon in a recent annual report has stated it is working on fixing many of the issues raised by the strikers, I think withholding labor will have little impact on the company’s policies,” he predicted.

“Moreover, a short-term strike primarily aimed at the supply chain for holiday gifts will likely have little impact because Amazon has inventories that allow it to cover a multitude of short-term disruptions,” Zagorsky concluded.

Advice For Business Leaders

Labunski said, “A couple of the lessons that other business leaders can learn from the Amazon protest situation is to stay ahead of the narrative and stay calm. Amazon officials came out before the protests identifying the issues and stating how they were already working to correct them.

“That tends to take the wind out of the sails of protestors. Staying calm in your reaction lets the public know the protests [haven’t] affected your company,” he advised.