Next steps – Amazon now in Unite’s sights

In a ‘ground breaking move’ Sharon told the Sunday Mirror on December 5 that her next target would be none other than the global mega-billions business, Amazon together with its multi-billionaire boss, Jeff Bezos.

She told the Sunday Mirror she had ‘Amazon in her sights when it comes to workers’ rights.’ The paper reported that Sharon is joining forces with unions in Germany and the US to take on Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.

It continued that the Unite general secretary is driving a “ground breaking” move to form a “transnational combine” across the three countries which make up 80 per cent of the web giant’s market.

Sharon wants them to jointly propose a ‘neutrality agreement’ to Amazon where workers are encouraged to engage with unions “without fear of being sacked.” She added that the move was “totally unprecedented.”

She told the Sunday Mirror, “We’ve had our initial discussions, then we’re having another set in January. When you think about it, why haven’t we done anything like this before?

“I’m very excited,” she added.

As we have previously report on our Unite news channels, the majority of the giant union-busting firm’s profits come from Amazon Web Services – a cloud computing platform whose major clients include the UK government.

‘Big leverage’

Sharon added she viewed this as a “big leverage” opportunity.

“If our governments are Amazon’s biggest clients in the most profitable part of their business, then we need to make sure those governments say, ‘If you want our contract, you have to make sure you give neutrality to trade unions’. It would be ground breaking if we get it – and of course we must do it.

“We have to deal with what’s going on in Amazon because they are pacesetting bad behaviour,” she concluded.

The paper also reported that the cash Unite previously spent on funding the Labour Party would instead be used for campaigns that affect workers, such as care reform.

By UNITElive team

FIND OUT MORE

You can read the Mirror feature here and also the Guardian feature here

@unitetheunion @UniteSharon

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