Workplace Report May 2017

European news

Italians unions reach deal at Amazon


An agreement on pay and conditions for workers working for Amazon in the company’s Italian warehouses in Milan and Origgio, a small town nearby, has been reached by unions. Although the workers covered are not direct employees of Amazon, they work for Amazon’s subcontractors. The unions have been concerned for some time about the conditions under which these workers have been employed, arguing that the terms of the national agreement for the transport of goods and logistics have not been observed. In particular, there have been breaches of the agreement’s rules on overtime, working time and the use of part-timers.


The agreement with the subcontractors guarantees that in future these rules will be observed, and is one of the first affecting the operations of Amazon, even if indirectly. As the union CGIL FILT stated, it is “an agreement in the belly of the giant”.