said the workers at Poznań, “so we deserve much more!”The headline demand of Friday’s action at Poznań was to “Make Amazon Pay”. Alongside garment workers in Bangladesh, hawkers in India and climate activists in the United States, a coalition is forming across the planet to demand justice from Amazon for its abuse of workers, the environment and democratic institutions. “Amazon takes too much and gives back too little,” the coalition writes in its common demands.
But the strikes on Black Friday aimed at far more than restitution. Rather, they modeled a radical new strategy of supply-chain organizing against demand is clear: “Better working conditions for all company warehouse employees around the world.” Their struggle starts on the shop floor. But as Black Friday’s actions showed, everyone has a role to play in making Amazon pay.
David Adler is a political economist and general coordinator of the Progressive International
James Schneider is a socialist organiser, communications director for Progressive International and former press secretary for Jeremy Corbyn and the UK Labour party