Amazon Faces Strikes in Germany over Pay in Run-Up to Christmas

Workers at Amazon.com's German operations are set to strike today in a dispute over pay.

The disagreement between employees and the e-commerce giant, which was been ongoing for months, comes in the run-up to Christmas.

The Verdi Union, otherwise known as the United Services Union, said workers would strike in Amazon's logistic centres in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig as well as in Graben in an attempt to secure a pay rise.

The union also claimed a delegation of German employees will protest outside of Amazon's headquarters in the US - assisted by some of the country's trade unions.

"The Amazon system is characterized by low wages, permanent pressure to perform or temporary employment," said Stefanie Nutzenberger, a Verdi board member for trade.

He added: "The solidarity among German and American workers is an encouraging sign, and the only correct answer to the US based global company."

Verdi has previously organised short strikes to try to get Amazon to accept collective bargaining agreements in the mail order and retail industry, as benchmarks for workers' pay at Amazon's German distribution centres.

But the world's largest online retailer, which employs around 9,000 staff in Germany and more than 109,000 employees worldwide, has argued that its staff at centres in the cities of Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig are logistics workers and receive above-average pay by the standards of that industry.

Amazon had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.