Amazon Workers and Allies Worldwide Unite on Black Friday to Demand Change
On Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, Amazon workers and their allies across the globe took to the streets to protest against the e-commerce giant’s labor practices. Demonstrators highlighted Amazon’s exploitation of workers, relentless union-busting efforts, contributions to the worsening climate crisis, and plans to replace employees en masse with robots.
“Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and their political allies are betting on a techno-authoritarian future, but this Make Amazon Pay Day, workers everywhere are saying: enough,” said Christy Hoffman, general secretary of UNI Global Union. “For years, Amazon has squashed workers’ right to democracy on the job through union-busting and backing from authoritarian political figures. Its model is deepening inequality and undermining fundamental workers’ rights to organize, bargain collectively, and demand safe, fair workplaces.”
From Germany to Bangladesh, thousands of workers walked off the job on Friday, marching against Amazon’s labor practices to push for better wages, improved working conditions, and strong union protections.
Amazon’s soaring profits have only fueled frustration. Last month, the company reported over $21 billion in profits for the third quarter of 2025—a 38% increase compared to the same period last year.
“During the heatwaves, the warehouse feels like a furnace—people faint, but the targets never stop,” said Neha Singh, an Amazon worker in Manesar, India, referring to the company’s grueling productivity quotas. “Even if we fainted, we couldn’t take a day off and go home. If we took that day off, our pay would be cut, and if we took three days off, they would fire us. Amazon treats us as expendable.”
“We are joining Make Amazon Pay,” Singh added, “to demand the most basic rights: safety, dignity, and the chance to go home alive.”
Make Amazon Pay is a coalition of labor unions and advocacy groups committed to stopping Amazon from squeezing workers, communities, and the planet. The strikes and protests in 2025, described by organizers as the largest mobilization against Amazon to date, mark the sixth consecutive year of global actions organized by the alliance.
In Germany, the strike was described as the largest in Amazon’s history, with around 3,000 workers expected to join picket lines across the country. The union representing Amazon workers in the United States voiced solidarity with the striking German workers in a social media post, crediting them with “inspiring the global Amazon worker movement for over a decade.”
“Across the world, Amazon workers are walking off the job, marching through their cities, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with communities to demand what every worker deserves: fair wages, safe conditions, the right to organize—and a future not dictated by algorithms and billionaires,” said Progressive International, a member of the Make Amazon Pay alliance.
The global movement continues to grow, underscoring the urgent need for Amazon to address its labor practices and commit to fair treatment of workers worldwide.
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