Labour inspections: Amazon logistics centre in Corvera under the microscope
Spain is launching a deep inspection into Amazon’s hub in Murcia amid allegations of excessive hours and worker surveillance
Spain’s Ministry of Labour has put Amazon’s logistics centre in Corvera under the spotlight as part of its nationwide inspections into labour abuses among tech giants operating in this country.
Amazon in particular has grabbed the attention of Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz for its allegedly shady working conditions, and the spot checks on its operations, including the robotics logistics facility and its last mile delivery station in the Southeast Logistics Park in Corvera, should help weed out bad practices.
"We are going to remind the tech magnates around the world that in Spain, labour rights are respected and upheld," Ms Díaz said this week.
According to the minister, Amazon allows its employees to work 120 hours a week (which amounts to inconceivable 24-hour shifts from Monday to Friday) and makes them wear monitoring bracelets to track their bathroom breaks. The company has denied both claims, including in Murcia, which were first brought to the government’s notice by the workers themselves.
Daniel Sola, president of the Works Council and representative of the CCOO union, is firmly in Ms Díaz’s corner, complaining that Amazon treats workplace incidents as “common contingencies” that are simply to be expected, rather than the accidents that they really are.
"We are 2,000 people who work non-stop all day long: there are knee, wrist and back injuries... These are accidents caused by long working hours with physical strain," he said.
In fact, back in 2023, the Labour Inspectorate opened an investigation into Amazon for a worker accident in Corvera, after which the Works Council's health and safety representatives were not notified and the employee was sent by taxi to La Arrixaca Hospital. Since then, CCOO points out, things have improved in this regard, and there is now a protocol in place.The compliance checks really couldn’t come at a worse time for Amazon, whose employees in Spain are facing job cuts. In Madrid and Barcelona, the company has announced an ERE (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo), a formal redundancy plan, that will affect 1,200 employees.
However, the company’s two sites in Murcia, which employ about 2,000 people, are not included in those job cuts.
Because of this situation, the CGT, a smaller trade union, has called for a strike at Amazon. The work stoppages are planned for November 24-28 and December 16-23, which is right before Christmas, the busiest period for logistics and deliveries.
But it’s not just Amazon that’s caught in Yolanda Díaz’s crosshairs: "Whether they're called Uber, Cabify, Amazon, or whatever they're called, we're going to monitor how these companies treat workers," the minister stated.
Although Ms Díaz announced that this campaign would begin "immediately", sources from the Ministry have not detailed how it will be carried out or the implications it will have in the Region of Murcia.
Images: Archive
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