Deutsch arbeiter über Amazon?

Take the strike of Amazon employees in Germany, for example. With the unions so weak in the UK, it is difficult to imagine the same thing happening so readily here but it is interesting to look closely at the rationale for the strike.

The German union says Amazon’s warehouse workers are retail employees and therefore entitled to higher wages than other logistics workers.

This exceptionalism is typical of online retail and shows how important fast and responsive logistics are to making the online retail business model work, as opposed to the more prosaic matter of store replenishment for bricks and mortar retail.

In category terms, clearly those involved in efulfilment are carrying out the exact same kind of task as in traditional fulfilment, but there are crucial differences in working conditions. The online warehouse workers are dealing with greater variation and far more small order picks.There is lower tolerance for error, faster speeds are required, and in many cases later hours.

Furthermore, those at the delivery end are expected to be much more customer friendly, something that was not an issue when trucks dropped off goods en masse at stores.

This is important especially as this is a class of worker likely to grow. Just this week Marks & Spencer opened a 900,000 sq ft e-commerce distribution centre in Castle Donington with 1,200 full time staff.

While the British worker is less inclined to strike than his continental ‘comrades’, don’t be surprised to see warehouse workers in eCommerce facilities cotton on to the increased importance of their reliable and competent efforts, and don’t be surprised to see them expect to be paid more handsomely for it.