Pre-Christmas Amazon strike due

Verdi, the large German trade union with 2.2 million members, called on Friday for a fresh three-day strike next week at five warehouses of Amazon. The US-based online-retailing giant said it was aiming to avoid sales delays.

The intended walkouts will be at Amazon's distribution centers in Leipzig, Graben, Rheinberg, and Werne and will start late on Sunday at its biggest center Bad Hersfeld in Germany's central state of Hesse. The strike will run until late next Wednesday.

"Amazon categorically refuses to recognise employees' right to a collective agreement and sees unions as unnecessary," Verdi executive member Stefanie Nutzenberger said, adding that the business behemoth could easily end the strikes by entering into a better collective deal with workers' representatives.

The union encouraged Amazon customers to sign up to a petition that calls on Amazon chief Jeff Bezos to ensure fair pay and conditions.

Retail sector workers?

The online retailer has consistently argued that its German warehouse staff are logistics workers who receive above-average compensation.

On Tuesday, Amazon's head in Germany Ralf Kleber told the tabloid newspaper Bild that negotiations were "unthinkable."

Verdi wants Amazon to raise pay to levels set in collective agreements across Germany's mail order and retail industry.

Next week's planned strike will be the latest in a series of work stoppages that go back to early 2013. After each, Amazon refused to act on the union's demands.

Amazon workers who belong to Verdi also walked out of the Bad Hersfeld warehouse earlier in the week.

Verdi said in a statement that it intended to continue to "raise the pressure on Amazon in the Christmas sales season" when order volumes increase significantly.

Deliveries 'reliable, says Amazon'

"We will deliver reliably...nearly 19,000 coworkers in German are working regularly to fulfill the wishes of our customers." said Amazon spokeswoman Anette Nachbar in a statement quoted by the German news agency dpa.

Across Europe, Amazon has 28 logistics centers in seven countries.

es/ipj (dpa, Reuters)