news/GOOGL/2023.02.02/Amazon workers in Barcelona strike over warehouse closure.txt

MADRID, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Workers at an Amazon
logistics centre on the outskirts of Barcelona protested on
Thursday on the second day of an indefinite strike sparked by
the company's plans to shut down the warehouse and relocate
employees to other provinces.They have staged pickets at the entrances to the warehouse,
but union leaders said they were allowing truck drivers to enter
and leave the centre where 800 people work and accused Amazon of
acting "in bad faith" by calling riot police to clear the area
on the first day.Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.On Jan. 11, the delivery giant announced it would close the
warehouse in the Martorelles suburb and shift its activity to
the city of Zaragoza, some 300 km (186 miles) west of Barcelona.While Amazon said all employees would be transferred to
other logistics centres in Spain without any job losses, trade
unions described the move as "disguised layoffs" and said the
collective bargaining deals in other provinces would result in
worse pay conditions for workers."Does Amazon really need to make more profit? It has more
millions than entire countries," Elisenda Mas, a spokesperson
for Spain's largest union CCOO, told Reuters. "It's shameful."She said that Amazon's latest offer for employees willing to
move to Zaragoza or to Figueres in the neighbouring province of
Girona - located 125 km north of Barcelona - was a one-off
relocation bonus of 3,000 euros ($3,280) plus an unspecified
amount spread out in 12 monthly instalments.But the separate collective bargaining agreement in those
provinces would entail a pay cut of at least 700 euros per
month, she said, adding that moving away from Barcelona, where
her husband works and her child attends school, was not a viable
option.Striking workers are asking to be relocated to other Amazon
warehouses within the province of Barcelona.Last month, Amazon announced more than 18,000 job cuts
globally, mainly impacting its e-commerce and human resources
divisions, amid similar moves by tech companies such as Meta
or Alphabet.
($1 = 0.9147 euros)
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Andrei Khalip and
Barbara Lewis)