Yahoo Finance Amazon workers offered $500m holiday bonus as Black Friday strike looms
Amazon has announced $500m (£373m) in Christmas bonuses for its frontline staff ahead of protests by staff on Black Friday in 15 counties.
Worldwide operations chief Dave Clark said the money would go to full-time and part-time staff who worked for the company between Dec 1 and 31.
Full-time employees in the UK and the US will receive £300 or $300, while part-time staff will be eligible for £150 or $150.
The e-commerce and technology giant recorded net profit of $6.3bn (£4.7bn) in the three months to Sept 30 – up from $2.1bn (£1.6bn) in the third quarter of last year.
By the end of the year, Amazon will have recruited 10,000 extra UK staff to cope with the uptick in sales stemming from the pandemic.
In his post, Mr Clark said he was “grateful” for the efforts of Amazon employees through what has been a “unique” year.
He said: “Combined with other holiday pay incentives, in this quarter alone we are investing over $750m in additional pay for our front-line hourly workforce.
“This brings our total spent on special bonuses and incentives for our teams globally to over $2.5bn in 2020, including a $500m thank you bonus earlier this year.
“Our teams are doing amazing work serving customers’ essential needs, while also helping to bring some much-needed holiday cheer for socially-distanced families around the world. I’ve never been more grateful for – or proud of – our teams.”
The company faced criticism over work conditions earlier this year, with the company hit with strikes from workers in France and Italy over virus safety concerns.
Amazon workers and lobby groups are planning Black Friday protests in 15 countries today.
“This is a series of misleading assertions by misinformed or self-interested groups who are using Amazon’s profile to further their individual causes,” Amazon said.
“Amazon has a strong track record of supporting our people, our customers, and our communities, including providing safe working conditions and leading $15 minimum wage and great benefits, leading on climate change with the Climate Pledge commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040, and paying more than $5bn in taxes globally.”
In April, a row over sanitary working conditions forced the company to temporarily shut six of its warehouses in France.
Amazon has since said it has made more than 150 “significant” process changes to ensure the health and safety of its staff, from enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures to the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the implementation of temperature checks.
The company has also rolled out a pilot programme offering Covid-19 testing for its frontline workers in the UK.
Read more: Inside Amazon's new UK warehouse as the e-commerce giant gears up for a blow-out Christmas
