Worker strikes and a site crash dent Amazon’s online shopping bonanza
Amazon.com workers, who have long gone on strike in the run-up to the holidays, have found a new occasion to get their employer’s attention: “Prime Day.”
Nearly 1,800 Amazon workers in Spain went on strike Monday during Prime Day, the company’s biggest sales day of the year, according to labor activitists. Thousands more Amazon employees in Germany are expected to walk off the job Tuesday, the second day of the 36-hour sale, for similar reasons. The unions that represent the warehouse workers, Comisiones Obreras and Verdi services union, say they are calling for better working conditions, pay and health benefits.
“The message is clear - while the online giant gets rich, it is saving money on the health of its workers,” Verdi spokeswoman Stefanie Nutzenberger said in a statement on the German union’s website.
Prime Day, which Amazon created four years ago, has grown rapidly in recent years and now brings in billions in sales for the company. On Monday, the sale kicked off at 3 p.m. - and almost immediately crashed Amazon’s website and mobile app for about 45 minutes. “UH-OH,” said a message on the company’s app. “Something went wrong on our end.” Amazon said it was trying to fix the problem.
The Prime Day computer glitch - which appeared to be the most widespread to date - and worker strikes added up to a spate of bad news for the online giant, which has been heavily promoting its discount event for weeks.
“There is no doubt that this will erode sales and deter some customers from buying,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData Retail. “The outage is especially problematic as many of Amazon’s Prime deals are promoted for a set window of time - something that could cause a great deal of frustration for potential customers.”