From the Business pages of tonight's London Evening Standard.
By Lucy Tobin
AMAZON is facing major disruption in the crucial Christmas shopping period as employees of the internet giant in Germany ans the US go on strike.
Workers at Amazon's logistic centres in Bad Hersfeld,Leipzig and Graben in Germany, where the online business employs 9000 people, are striking over a long term pay dispute
German workers at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle are also striking.
The Verdi union says Amazon is not paying it's staff a comparable wage to those of other warehouse staff in Germany, because the company has classified the employees as lower-paid logistics workers
The union is also unhappy with what it calls Amazon's practise of "constant monitoring" of workers, as well as what it claims are impossible workplace targets.
After Amazon said it is to open three new distribution centres in Poland, German employees are reported to be nervous that their jobs will go to Polish workers
Amazon said it's staff in Germany are logistics workers who receive above average pay for the industry.
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