Amazon delivery strike will soon happen in India nationwide

Mar 20,2024
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Amazon delivery workers are set to hold a nationwide strike in the coming days, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport workers (IFAT), the trade union body representing gig transport workers, announced through a press release on Wednesday. The 24-hour planned strike will take place at several Amazon warehouses in cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune.

Shaik Salauddin, National General Secretary of IFAT, told MediaNama that the union is coordinating with different state chapters to finalize a date. The workers demand an increase in commission rates, insurance for everyone, and not making KYC compulsory.

Around 10,000–20,000 delivery persons will participate in the strike that could come into place later this month. The plans for the strike comes just days after hundreds of Amazon's delivery persons walked out in Delhi and Pune. While 1,500–2,000 delivery persons went on strike in Pune, 1,000–1,500 took an identical step in Delhi, Salauddin said.

IFAT said in a press note released on Wednesday that delivery staff of Amazon were making around Rs. 20,000 a month before the national lockdown last year, but that earning dropped to Rs. 10,000. According to IFAT, Amazon issued a new policy update on March 15 saying that delivery staff would earn Rs. 10 on delivering small packages and Rs. 15 for deliveries made through tempos. The staff was earlier getting Rs. 35 on each order, the trade union said.

The delivery staff is demanding Amazon to pay for parcels delivered through vans at a fixed charge of Rs. 35 per parcel, while small parcels should be charged at Rs. 20 per parcel. They also wanted the company to fix the charges they get from the ‘I have space' pick-up points at Rs. 25 per parcel. The participating unions also wanted the company to pay Rs. 480 to delivery staff for enrolling 20–25 wallets and should not insist them to process KYC for Amazon Pay customers.