Amazon France has reopened its warehouses today after resolving a dispute with unions over the safety of workers.
The ecommerce giant confirmed in an email to eDelivery that all six warehouses were now open four French unions last week announced that they had agreed on conditions for employees to return to work at six warehouses across the country.
The parties did not give details of the exact employee conditions but Amazon said it was requesting volunteers. Union CFDT said employees would be offered incentives to return.
A court in Nanterre, near Paris, had ruled over a month ago that Amazon would have to limit the activity of its six warehouses in the country to only ship essential categories such as food, hygiene and medical items. After the ruling was upheld despite an appeal, Amazon decided to shut down the warehouses rather than risk a fine.
“This is a positive step forward for customers in France, for our French employees and for the many French VSEs and SMEs that rely on Amazon to develop their activity,” said Amazon.
“We understand that the unprecedented situation we have been through may have been destabilising for some of them and we thank them for their support and patience.”
Amazon’s travails over the safety of its warehouses in France are continuing as it was forced to keep its warehouses shut down and was denied income support from the French government.
While continuing to pay employees, earlier this month Amazon requested that it receive support through a government scheme which allows employers to claim 84% of the pay of temporarily unemployed workers.
However, France’s labour ministry refused to grant support for the incomes of the employees who were temporarily unable to work.
