9,000 temporary workers who will help fulfill pre-holiday orders and 6,000 permanent employees. Mass recruitment began in the Polish branch of the global giant Amazon and will last for several months. Looking for managers, business analysts, logistics specialists, IT staff and handymen.

Where are they recruiting?

In Poland, Amazon is represented by four logistics centers, where it is planned to recruit several thousand permanent and temporary employees. Amazon is looking for people in Wroclaw, Poznan, Szczecin and the Tricity.

Two logistics centers, which opened on October 28, 2014, are located near Wroclaw, in Bielany Wroclawskie, in the municipality of Kobierice. A third logistics center was established in Sadow near Poznań, in the municipality of Tarnowo Podgórne. Opened October 29, 2014. Each of the three Amazon logistics centers covers an area of ​​about 95,000 m2 (or about 13 football fields).

To support the production process in Poland, the company plans to hire 6,000 permanent employees and 9,000 temporary workers to help fulfill pre-holiday orders from Amazon customers. Recruitment has already begun and will continue for several months. They are looking for managers, business analysts, logistics specialists and IT staff.

What is expected from a candidate?

“Candidates must have personal initiative, ambition and a passion for meeting customer needs at their very best. high level online sales - announced in the announcement of open vacancies posted on the company's website. We offer positions in various areas, from production staff (collection, warehousing, order processing, packaging) to management positions.”

How much pay?

At the beginning of a career, an employee is promised 15-16 PLN per hour of work, for overtime work you can get up to 16-17 PLN/hour. The salary of an employee with more than one year of experience will be the same. Monthly in the company you can earn from 2700 to 3100 PLN. Warehouse workers work an average of 4 days a week. Amazon also promises that every employee can count on an attractive social package, such as lunch for 1 PLN and free transportation to and from work.
The initial rate of management personnel in the company is 20-21 PLN gross per hour. Managers with more than one year of experience receive PLN 21-22 per hour, and more than 2 years - PLN 21-23 per hour.
Each employee has three breaks during the day: two 15-minute breaks and one half-hour for lunch. If a person works in shifts, then for the first shift you need to go to work at 6-6.30 in the morning, for the second - at 18-18.30. Each shift lasts 10.5 hours.

What clients will be served by the Polish branches?

Polish logistics centers will be integrated into Amazon's European network. They will serve orders from Amazon.de and eventually target customers across Europe.

According to company representatives, the main reason for the decision to open new centers in Poland, in addition to access to labor force, was Poland's location in Central Europe, as well as the country's close connection with key markets EU.

Amazon is the world's largest company by turnover selling goods and services over the Internet and one of the first Internet services focused on the sale of real consumer goods. On the Amazon Internet platform, a customer can purchase books, videos and music products on discs, clothing, jewelry, computer software and much more. All products purchased on Amazon are delivered to the customer by mail.

Amazon is one of the leaders in international online trading. But, as you probably know, Amazon is not only the most popular American hypermarket Amazon.com, which we wrote so much about, but also dozens of other regional online sites, the largest of which is the European - German Amazon, located at Amazon .de. Of course, we will not ignore such a well-known resource, especially considering the fact that it has already been launched full English version(And it was the German language that introduced foreign buyers into some stupor).

general information

What is interesting about the German Amazon?

Amazon.de was undeservedly overlooked by our compatriots, but only because the interface and product description used to be unfamiliar to many, German made shopping a rather confusing procedure. Now, with the advent of the English interface, everything has been greatly simplified.

The company seems to have decided to turn the Amazon de to the largest pan-European online store, since it has been developing in recent years at an incredible pace: countries are added that are covered by direct delivery; the number of goods and sellers increases; new site interface languages ​​are being developed, etc. As a result, the once exotic shopping on the German Amazon turns into a real pleasure.

Prices on Amazon.de are displayed in euros. Goods for sale are put up by both Amazon itself and third sellers - if you are familiar with the customs of the American branch of the hypermarket, then you will not find anything new for yourself.

By the way, if you are already registered on Amazon.com (and, most likely, you are), then you will not need to register again: use the same login and password to enter the site. All already entered addresses, card data and other information will be available in your "German" account.

If we compare the German and American branches, we can come to the following conclusions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the site in Germany.

• For all goods VAT is charged- European equivalent of VAT; its value varies depending on the product and the country of delivery and averages from 7%. You can avoid paying only with direct international shipping outside the European Union(which is relevant for the Russian Federation). However, the cost of the latter in this case will be quite high and you need to determine which option is more profitable for you. It will no longer be possible to issue a VAT refund retroactively. By default, the price of goods is displayed on Amazon.de tax included calculated for Germany.
• Goods on the German Amazon, as well as on other regional branches of the hypermarket still sold at regular prices.. And although sometimes you can get a very tangible discount to buy a product with a discount of 70-90%, buying it for next to nothing, as is common at an ebay auction, especially at auction, it will not work.
• There is no possibility of inexpensive and understandable direct international shipping. The cost of direct delivery, which is available for the Russian Federation and the Baltic countries, is still quite high and does not apply to all goods. Therefore, almost always you will have to pay for the services of a forwarder, which is far from always profitable with single inexpensive purchases.
• Many products, due to the policy of the manufacturer, dimensions, etc. are not available for direct international delivery, but they can be sent to the forwarder's warehouse address without any problems.
• Despite the availability of an English-language support service, communication with third-party sellers is often only possible in German.
• Since most of the store's customers are Germans, product reviews are also predominantly in German.
• Less choice of forwarding companies than for the USA.

How to change the language?

All you have to do is go to Amazon and choose English language- the interface of the site will immediately change to the familiar one (like on Amazon.com), so that when you press various buttons, you do not have to rely on intuition and a dictionary. Shopping on the German Amazon site will now be much easier! So how do you do it?

Having entered the online store, find the small globe present on any page near the search bar and click it.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

The language options will open. Choose "English - EN" - and the site will immediately change: the interface language will completely change, product descriptions will change (naturally, only those that have an English version). But be prepared that a small part of the descriptions and product names may still be in German. In addition to English, Dutch and even Polish are now available.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Video

Registration on Amazon.de

You need to register to shop on Amazon. It only takes a minute and only needed if you still don't have an Amazon.com account(if you have one, you can use your existing login and password for authorization).

The Amazon de website in Russian, if it appears, will not be soon, so after changing the language to English, click "Sign In" at the top of the page. Registration is a simple and non-binding procedure: you do not need to enter any data, including payment or delivery address.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Then choose "Create your Amazon Account".

Screenshot from Amazon.de

And fill simple form: first - first and last name (you can limit yourself to a nickname - this will not affect anything: when placing an order, the real name of the recipient will be indicated separately in the delivery address). Then enter your email address and create a password - at least six characters. All data is entered in English (Latin).

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Click the "Create your Amazon Account" button and that's it - your account has been created. You can use this data to authorize on any of the Amazon sites(USA, Germany, Italy, France, UK, etc.).

How to buy on Amazon.de

First of all, let's decide on the payment: any payment cards are accepted - Visa, MasterCard, suitable for online payment. Now let's deal with the delivery of goods offered by the German Amazon in order to immediately remove all questions related to it. Choose the option that is easier and more profitable for you. Often you have to choose the most rational option for each specific order.

Do it yourself with drop shipping- this option is available for almost all countries of the European Union, but the conditions vary: the cost differs, the possibility of free delivery and the amount of the order to receive it. It is possible with Amazon de delivery to Russia, both standard and expedited. Its cost depends on the weight, dimensions, price of the goods and starts from 20 euros. It is worth remembering that it only applies to those goods that are sold by Amazon itself - "third" sellers have their own policy regarding international delivery, in addition, the marketing policy of many brands does not provide for International delivery. It is worth noting that direct shipping is also offered for Kazakhstan, but its cost is extremely high; only books, CDs and other media products are sent to Ukraine. Detailed information regarding delivery is collected in the reference section.

Independently with delivery to the address of the forwarding (forwarding) company. Usually this is the most rational and simple option. You place and pay for the order yourself, and specify the details of the warehouse of a German or European forwarder as the delivery address. Delivery within Germany is free for orders over 29 euros, to other European countries there is also the possibility of free shipping - for example, for Poland and the Czech Republic freeship is available for orders over 39 euros.

The forwarder receives your parcel to the warehouse, if necessary, consolidates (combines) it with your other orders and sends it by the method you choose. Among the popular German forwarding companies are Smart-Forwarding.com, Banderolka, Rusbid.com, Mist-Germany. For Ukraine, the Mist-Poland warehouse located right near the border is extremely beneficial, where it is possible free shipping from Germany.

With the help of an intermediary company- if you do not want to bother with placing and paying for the order, then you can very well entrust this to an intermediary who will redeem the order, receive it in its warehouse and send it to you. Usually, an additional commission of 5-10% of the order value is taken for intermediary services. Intermediary services some forwarders provide, in particular, Qwintry.com.

Checkout

The product description page has a standard look, familiar to those who have made purchases on any of the Amazon sites. But, nevertheless, let's take a closer look.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

After adding the product to the Basket, you will receive a notification with an offer to immediately complete the purchase ("Proceed to checkout"), or you can go to the Basket ("Basket") to edit it.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

If you have not entered your username and password, you will be prompted to log in. If you signed up on Amazon.com, you can use the data you already have.

You will then be prompted to select a shipping address. Let's say that only your home address has been entered into your account so far, and you need to add the address of a German forwarder.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

We go down below within the same page and enter the necessary data in the "Add a new address" section. Ignore the form on the right ("Search for a Pickup Location near you"): it allows you to send an order to one of the Amazon addresses for self-collection, but only European locations.

Let's enter the data of a very famous German forwarder "Banderolka", which offers inexpensive delivery to Russia. To do this, you must first register on the Qwintry.com service website and receive your personal address. You choose the forwarding company yourself - just compare offers, prices, reviews. For example, "Banderolka" does not send orders to Ukraine, popular forwarders for this country are Mist-Germany and Mist-Poland.

Here's what the address looks like personal account on the website of the forwarding company.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

We carefully transfer it to our Amazon.de account. Everything is quite simple here, you should not have any problems. The only thing - do not fill in the "Country" field manually, because. this is not a completely correct translation from the German "Federal Land", it will be automatically offered according to the specified postal code in the next step.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

If the forwarder does not provide a phone number, indicate yours in the international format.

At the bottom of the form, you will be able to select "Optional Delivery Preferences" - the possibility of delivery on weekends and holidays. Given that forwarders do not work on weekends, select "Don't deliver on weekends" and click "Deliver to this address".

Screenshot from Amazon.de

On the next page, Amazon will offer to automatically correct the address: it will be substituted with the so-called. "Federal Land", which we did not enter in the previous step. In this case it is "Berlin". Agree with the proposed option. In any case, even if you do not specify this data, the package will still be delivered correctly. It's more of a formality.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Now check the quantity of goods, delivery address.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

And on the right, choose the delivery method based on the desired speed and cost. Remember that the "Prime" package is paid. Usually only standard shipping is free.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

On the next page, select one of the payment cards entered into your account. Alternatively, in "Credit or Debit Cards", enter the details of a new card suitable for online payments.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

It is enough to enter information from the front side of the card: name and surname (Name on Card), number (Card Number) and expiration date (Expiration Date).

Screenshot from Amazon.de

The final large page is a collection of information about the order: payment method, product, quantity, delivery. Check everything carefully.

Shipping address ("shiping address") and billing address ("invoice address" is the "billing" address you provided when you issued the payment card; it usually matches your home address). If you need to change any data, click on the "change" link next to them.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Product, price, size, quantity (Quantity), seller (Amazon EU), shipping method (Standart Shipping) and its expected date (Estimated Delivery).

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Now all that's left to do is pay. If, when adding the card, you indicated that it was in a currency other than the euro, then Amazon will offer you to convert the currency of your card into euros yourself. Converter included: " Amazon currency converter is enabled".

You immediately see the proposed course. We have a card in US dollars, and this is what Amazon offers us.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

It doesn't make sense, because the Amazon exchange rate, especially in relation to the Russian ruble or the Ukrainian hryvnia, is less profitable than the conversion that the bank will carry out. Therefore, choose the real currency of your card, refusing to automatically convert Amazon.

The form of payment will take the following form: the converter is disabled - " Amazon currency converter is disabled", you pay in the currency of the invoice, i.e. in euros. Pay attention to the "Pay in EUR" button, i.e. "pay in euros", click it to pay.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Your order has been received and is being processed. Now Amazon will inform you about the progress of its processing. Funds are not withdrawn immediately, it usually takes some time. When the item is shipped, a message and a tracking number will be sent to your email.

All information about the order is available in the account in the section "Orders" (orders).

Screenshot from Amazon.de

• Track Pakage - track the package
• File/View Claim – file / view a claim.
• Return or Replace items - replacement or return of goods
• Contact Seller - contact the seller
• Left Seller Feedback - leave feedback to the seller
• Write product review - write a product review
• Hide order - hide the order data by removing it from the general summary (they will still be available through the "hidden orders" link from your Amazon account).

Your order will be received by the forwarding company and will appear in the forwarder's account. You will be able to consolidate it with other orders, or immediately send it to you in an acceptable way. Keep in mind that it may take some time for the forwarder to accept your warehouse order and enter information about it into the system.

Order cancellation

It is very convenient that Amazon does not block the amount of the order on the card at the time of its placement, but gives, as they say, "think". During this time, you can cancel your order simply and without any penalties. If the seller is Amazon, then you have at least a few hours (and in fact - a day, sometimes more) to cancel until the order goes into the "preparing for shipping" stage. If the seller is a third party, then there is 30 minutes from the moment of placing the order to cancel the order.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Click it and cancel either individual items from the order, or the entire order. You will be asked to select a reason for canceling the order, you can choose an error as it - "Order created by mistake". Click "Cancel checked items" - "Cancel selected orders".

Screenshot from Amazon.de

On the next page, you will be informed that the order or certain items from it have been cancelled. No sanctions or penalties apply. Funds are not debited from the card.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

How to search for items available for international direct shipping

By and large, Amazon.de is also present in Russia. After all, the Amazon Global program involves 75 countries where direct international shipping is available. Of the countries of the former Soviet Union, only Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Ukraine (with the nuances specified above) and the Baltic countries. The entire list can be found on the program page.

In order for your search to show products available for international shipping, you need to set a search filter. In the catalog view, on the right, at the very bottom of the page, find "International Shipping" and check the box next to "AmazonGlobal Eligible".

Screenshot from Amazon.de

But international delivery is always paid (except for EU countries) and many goods are not available for it. Therefore, it is more logical to use the forwarder's address, although the buyer always decides.

All prices on Amazon.de are displayed with added value added tax (MwSt, on the English version of the site - VAT) calculated for Germany. Its value is 19% and varies depending on the product category. The reduced rate of 7% applies in particular to books, food, etc. The tax is charged even on used, unpacked goods.

However, you pay tax only if you send an order within Germany, incl. to the warehouse of the forwarding company. If your delivery address is in another country of the European Union, then the rates of this tax are applied based on its legislation. For example, in Poland the general rate is 23%, in Estonia 20%.

Information that the tax is included in the price, you will see in the description of any product, near its price and delivery details. In the line "All prices include VAT".

Screenshot from Amazon.de

If the delivery address is outside the EU, then you do not pay value added tax - it is deducted automatically at the last step, when placing an order. However, the cost of drop shipping is often less profitable than paying tax and using a forwarder.

You can always see all the information regarding the accrued tax at the final step, when placing an order. On the right, pay attention to the line "Order Totals include VAT" - VAT is included in the order price.

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Screenshot from Amazon.de

Will ship to many countries in the world including Poland. They will not ship every item that they stock to an Polish address but there are millions of items on the Amazon store that they will ship to an Polish address.

Remember though, clothing and shoe sizes are very different in Poland and you may need to use the when buying on Amazon. You also need to be aware of the between the two countries.

We strongly recommend following the 5 steps below to make your shopping experience on Amazon Poland as buttery smooth as possible.

Using these methods you avoid endless frustrations and wasted time shopping on the Amazon store from Poland.

• Amazon can ship to Poland
• Poland is part of the AmazonGlobal program
• Amazon deals Standard Shipping to Poland
• Amazon deals Expedited Shipping to Poland
• Amazon deals Priority Courier to Poland

• Start at AmazonGlobal

  When shopping on Amazon from Poland (or anywhere outside the USA) then you need to start at the page, not the normal Amazon homepage.

  AmazonGlobal shows only items that can be shipped internationally outside of the USA. Not every item can be shipped to every country like Poland but the next steps will cover this more.

  AmazonGlobal will also automatically calculate duty and tax estimation when shipping to Poland and includes those fees (if applicable) in the checkout process.

  This is not the main Amazon homepage so make sure you record the address so you can come back to this page whenever you want.

  By Shopping at Amazon Global we have already removed millions of items that Amazon will never be able to ship outside the USA.

  Follow the next 4 steps to have Amazon identify items that they can ship to you.

• Login to Your Amazon Account

  You must login to an Amazon Account before you start shopping. If you don't login Amazon will assume incorrectly that you are located inside the USA.

  Amazon will then automatically show you the item with the lowest price even if it's just a few cents cheaper.

  But cheaper in the US is probably not we are looking for when shipping to Poland.

  Many third party merchants might have a lower price in the USA but will not even ship the item to Poland or if they do their shipping costs are massive.

  If you don't yet have an Amazon Account yet then you will need to create one before proceeding.

• Set Your Polish Address as the Default

  Go into your account settings, click on Manage Addresses and set up your address in Poland and then set it as the 1-Click default address.

  You do not need to activate 1-Click shopping but your Polish Address must be set as the default.

  It is important that default address is setup before you start shopping as it queries this address to see if the item can be shipped to you.

  Without completing this step you will never be notified if Amazon can ship a particular item to your Polish address until you checkout.

  Once you have logged in click on this button to open up your address settings.

• Go Buy Some Stuff

  This is the part you have been waiting for. Go shopping and start selecting items you want to purchase.

  Even if you don't want to checkout and pay for the items right now, add them to your cart and you can come back at anytime and start the checkout process.

Does Amazon ship to Poland? Yes, and this extremely simple, 2-step method will show you exactly how to get any item shipped here, even those items that Amazon won’t ship outside of the USA.

FIRST: The 2-Step Amazon Poland Setup Process

STEP 1: Visit your new Amazon Poland Homepage

STEP 2: Set up your 1-click Address

Next, to only see items that can be shipped to Poland, you need to set up a 1-click address.

STEP 2: Purchase Your Item

After going through your new Amazon international search process above and verifying that you cannot ship the item you want from Amazon to you (maybe it’s the iPhone 6), send it instead to your new USA address by copying and pasting that address into Manage Shipping Addresses under Your Account. Then you're ready to buy!

STEP 3: Forward Your Item

You'll receive an when your package arrives at their warehouse in the USA, so all you need to do is confirm the shipping speed on the forward (priority, economy, etc.) and whether you want additional insurance(it's already being sent with DHL, so you probably won't need it), and then pay for the shipment forwarding. For shipping something like a Kindle , the charge will be $10-15 USD or less.

Also, since so many of you have been asking us for them, here"s our full list of country-specific posts outlining how to ship anything from Amazon to any country in the world. Our 2-step method makes it as simple as humanly possible, and takes about 3 minutes total: , ,

Global capitalism is an unstable system based on the constant movement of goods around the world. Poland attracted Amazon with cheap labor and tough union laws. But few knew that harsh working conditions would lead to wildcat strikes and international solidarity among Polish workers. In this article, Amazon warehouse workers talk about their own work and struggles.

This post is from Choke Points, a collection edited by Jake Alimahomed-Wilson and Immanuel Ness that tells stories of workers undermining capitalism at its weakest points, from the docks of Southern China to the logistics sector in Southern California.

In 2014, the first Amazon warehouses opened in Poland - one near Poznan and two near Wroclaw. In autumn 2017, two more warehouses will be opened near Szczecin and in Sosnowiec (near Katowice). There are rumors that in 2018 it is planned to open another one near Lodz. Amazon's Polish warehouses serve customers in neighboring Germany, not Poland. It is not local consumers that make Eastern European countries like Poland attractive to logistics and industrial capital, but much lower labor costs than Western Europe, capital-friendly legislation, cheap land, and tax incentives offered by the state. Eastern European regions adjacent to Germany and Austria are particularly well connected to Western European consumer markets, with a growing network of airports and motorways. Therefore, it is not surprising that Amazon not only decided to expand its sales network through Poland, but also invested in the Czech Republic and will soon open a facility in Slovakia.

In Poznań and Wrocław, where warehouses are located, the unemployment rate is low, and working for Amazon is not very attractive in terms of working conditions, wages and career development- especially for city dwellers with other employment opportunities. As a result, Amazon must hire a significant part of its workforce from villages within a radius of 120 km around the warehouses and organize their transportation by bus. For workers, this means long hours on the road: most of them spend more than 12, sometimes up to 17, hours a day away from home.

Most employees work standing or have to walk, some - several kilometers per shift. Many positions involve repetitive, monotonous movements, lifting heavy goods and boxes, moving heavy carts. Amazon wants warehouses open day and night. Therefore, workers in Poland are forced to work four ten-hour shifts a week with an additional unpaid half-hour break. The day shift schedule changes every month. Such a system of shifts and their constant alternation disrupt sleep patterns and lead to serious health problems. Besides, it's so hard to keep a private life.

Working in hell

At Amazon, workers register with a system that monitors each worker's performance. The data is used to set performance targets such as the required number of items scanned per hour. As long as employees are not doing anything that can be logged into the system (such as "scanning items"), the system records this as free time. This means that even if they are running doing something not logged, that time is recorded as a break. If employees don't perform well, that is, work "too slow" or take too many "extra breaks," they get negative "feedback." After several such “recalls”, the workers may be given a warning and eventually fired.

It's exhausting trying to hit the numbers, but even worse are the days when Amazon tries to set "records", like a million orders processed in one warehouse per day. Warehouses compete with each other, and Amazon pushes workers to the limit on these days, imposing mandatory overtime and canceling breaks until midnight. If the workers set the required "record", the managers receive an additional bonus and the workers receive t-shirts.

"Trying to hit the numbers is exhausting, but even worse are the days when Amazon tries to set 'records', like a million orders processed in one warehouse per day."

Constant stress, noise, physical exhaustion and insufficient rest between shifts affect the health of workers. Heavy workload, running and lifting weights especially affect the condition of the joints, legs and back. Not surprisingly, there is a high incidence of disease among permanent employees. For workers, sick leave is an opportunity to rest and “recover” health, but for Amazon it is additional expenses. To reduce the infection rate, in the spring of 2017, Amazon hired a company that checks to see if workers are at home during sick leave. A worker who was fired due to sick leave wrote: “At Amazon, we hear about safety and health every day, but the reality is different. Not everyone can race on Amazon. People are treated like machines. But even machines stay where they are if they fail. We are not allowed to."

Organization and struggle

At the end of 2014, a few months after the opening of the warehouse, a group of workers in Poznań founded the "Workers' Initiative" ("Inicjatywa Pracownicza", "IP"), a trade union without paid employees, built on self-organization and independent struggle for their rights. At that time both rank-and-file workers and group leaders were involved, but since then the trade union section has consisted mainly of rank-and-file workers. It now has about 400 members.

Italian strikes. Sabotage(s)

Before the strike in Germany in June 2015, the management of the warehouse in Poznań announced an additional working hour for the coming day of the strike on the other side of the border. Workers in Poznań knew ahead of time that Amazon was trying to hurt strikes in Germany by diverting orders to other warehouses (in this case, Poland). Due to the growing tension in the Poznań warehouse and the prospect of being strikebreakers, the workers began to actively discuss ways of resistance. As a result, during the night shift on July 24-25, several dozen workers began Italian strikes in one of the departments. They exploited flaws in the order processing system and disrupted other parts of the warehouse. The workers showed the will to resist, solidarity with the striking workers in Germany, a deep understanding of the work process and how to break it.

"Due to the growing tension in the Poznań warehouse and the prospect of being strikebreakers, the workers began to actively discuss ways of resistance."

The workers were then called in for a talk with management. Some said they deliberately sabotaged the work and would do it again. Several people were suspended and fired, others signed an agreement to terminate the contract and left on their own. Some cases are still pending labor courts. Amazon soon raised its hourly rate by one złoty (about eight percent), but the company denied that this was due to worker organization and sabotage. Another small spontaneous Italian strike took place before Christmas 2016, when several workers in the AFE department slowed down the order packing process for several hours, citing safety regulations. Team leaders tried to replace the workers. But they were not competent enough to do it effectively. Both strikes were not just a reaction to low salaries and intensification of labour, but also against management strategies that force workers to compete, demand complete subordination and degrade dignity. After the Italian strike at AFE, a worker yelled at a pre-shift meeting, "Stop treating us like dogs!"

After the first Italian strike in June 2015, the Workers' Initiative launched a formal collective bargaining process, demanding an increase in the hourly rate to 16 zł (20-25 percent) and a different calculation of breaks, because most of the workers' time was spent on the way to the canteen.

When negotiations and mandatory mediation ended without an agreement, the Workers' Initiative failed to call for a strike, although more than 97% of those who voted were in favor. Polish labor law, one of the most restrictive in Europe, requires voting with a turnout of at least 50% of the entire workforce and a majority vote. Only 30% of the workforce voted on Amazon in Poland. Nevertheless, more than 2,000 workers, directly employed or working under a temporary contract through an intermediary, voted in favor of the strike. This showed clear discontent among Amazon workers.

The strike vote failed, but it did cause Workers' Initiative's organizing efforts, conflict over working conditions, and resistance to become more visible to all Amazon workers in Poland. Poland's Amazon raised the rate by the złoty again (to 15 zł, plus 1 zł for senior workers). Workers usually react not with massive organized protests but with a series of (small) acts of defiance: for example, leaving early for breaks, slowing down work, neglecting tasks, exploiting system flaws, challenging management decisions, going to the toilet regularly, or otherwise leaving workplace simulate accidents. Amazon is unable to completely subordinate the activities of its employees to the rhythm of the warehouse

Tasks and solidarity

The organizational movement faced a number of problems. After the Italian strikes and the vote, Amazon began to put more pressure on labor activists. While workers were initially allowed to speak during pre-shift meetings and general meetings called "the whole team," this right was curtailed after workers used it to voice complaints and demands. The company also tried to prevent the regular distribution of leaflets near the warehouses. Amazon assigned Workers' Initiative activists to the most boring and tedious jobs, regularly moving them to new positions so they couldn't form close relationships with colleagues. Amazon is also trying to get rid of unionists and older workers in general by replacing them temporary workers from an agency who do not have the experience and ability to take sick leave.

"The organizational experience of Amazon Poland also shows the limitations of 'official' trade union activity."

Amazon's high employee turnover is not only due to temporary agency work, but also to the fact that permanent employees often leave due to fatigue and disgust with the working conditions. For the Work Initiative, this is also a difficulty. The dismissal can be seen as an act of dissatisfaction and resistance, but it weakens the union, because those who are fired cease to participate in union activities. To maintain strength and numbers, the union must constantly recruit new members, and this requires a lot of resources. So far, Jobs Initiative hasn't succeeded in bringing a large number of other logistics workers into the fray, especially since many former Amazon workers have found other jobs in the region - a good chance to join the labor struggle in a new location.

The organizational experience of Amazon Poland also shows the limitations of "official" trade union activity, that is, the restrictions imposed by labor law and the "representative" form of the union, for example, during collective bargaining and voting for a strike. The Workers Initiative chapter at Amazon, often supported by supporters, organized less formal events such as rallies and participated in autonomous organized activities, for example, the debate in in social networks, where workers exchange experience and convey information to the press. Of course, workers have stepped up on their own, outside the legal framework, such as during the Italian strikes and other acts of disobedience in the workplace.

No solidarity from Solidarność

Solidarity was organized to bridge the gap between permanent Amazon workers and temporary agency workers. In some cases, workers in other industries who are members of the Work Initiative have supported the Amazon sector. For example, theater workers in Poznań demanded that their theater end its sponsorship relationship with Amazon due to working conditions at the company. Meanwhile, an extremely nasty conflict has been provoked by Solidarność, the main Polish trade union, which has more members throughout Poland but fewer representatives in Amazon warehouses. While Work Initiative works most of all with the warehouse in Poznań, Solidarność deals with warehouses near Wrocław. But it failed to organize as many workers as the Workers' Initiative. Solidarność is trying to sell itself to Amazon as a cooperative and "reasonable" union, publicly attacking Workers' Initiative as too "radical" and irresponsible. In addition to trade union activities, Solidarność deals with cultural, conservative and religious issues, actively supports the current right-wing government of Poland, led by the Law and Justice party.

International Amazon Worker Gatherings

To be effective, the struggle of Amazon workers must be coordinated in more than one country. Amazon warehouses in Europe are part of one trading network. Since the same goods are stored in different warehouses, orders can be redirected from one warehouse to another if there are problems - bad weather, traffic jams or protests from workers.

Five international meetings have already been held in Poland, Germany and France. More planned. Gatherings are organized "outside" union membership and hierarchies. In other words, all Amazon employees and sympathizers are invited. The goal is to strengthen the strength and solidarity of the workers, despite the rivalry trade union organizations. So far, only a few dozen workers have taken an active part. But for the exchange of information about salaries, bonuses, employment contracts and litigation international meetings proved to be useful. This information was used for flyers and statements, it was useful during workplace discussions and when making demands to local authorities.

Conclusion

Grassroots organization and "official" union activism at Amazon has been successful in supporting a labor activist group, documenting struggle experiences, constantly bringing in new people, and so on. Brokered employment, attacks on labor activists, high turnover, restrictions imposed by Polish labor laws, and attrition of activists due to the shift system are problems the trade union is facing. Workers have tried unofficial methods of struggle that may pave the way for increased worker solidarity in the future. The focus is not just on building an organization, but on resistance in warehouses and the collective experience of promoting change through formal and informal methods.

"For the exchange of information on salaries, bonuses, employment contracts and litigation, international meetings have proven useful."

Amazon's international worker gatherings are still in their infancy. The backbone of labor activists is ready to solve problems in Poland, Germany and France. The need for meetings is dictated by the fact that international organization helps the workers involved see the potential power of collective struggle. They understand that they are not in isolation, but can get support from others. Workers are aware of the importance of documenting and analyzing workers' experiences in different countries and show them to new employees of Amazon and other logistics centers. But the impact of international activity will remain limited unless more Amazon warehouse workers are brought in from other countries. This article also encourages all Amazon workers and people involved in the struggle of logistics workers to contact and join the organization.