The Sampension community, PenSam and PKA now want Amazon to document how the company ensures its employees’ right to organize and bargain collectively. It is happening against the background of several cases of violations of labor rights at Amazon.
It must come to light how Amazon secures absolutely basic labor rights for its employees. This is what it says from the Sampension community, PenSam and PKA, who are now entering into a dialogue with Amazon with a view to getting the company to explain these matters.
The background for the initiative is that there have been several cases which paint a picture of serious challenges with labor rights at Amazon. Eg. workers in New York City were the first to form a US union for Amazon employees, but Amazon is now trying to have the union declared illegal.
These cases do not harmonize well with the principles of Amazon’s “Human Rights Commitment” regarding labor rights, which was published in March this year, and where it, among other things, it appears that the company supports international conventions when it comes to the right to organize in trade unions and bargain collectively.
Therefore, the three Danish pension companies now want Amazon to prepare a report that shows how the company concretely ensures its employees’ right to organize in a trade union and negotiate wages and working conditions collectively.
“We naturally attach great importance to labor rights in the companies we invest in. That is why we are very concerned about the many cases in which Amazon is accused of not living up to its obligations in relation to labor rights, and which also seems very far-fetched from the company’s own principles in the area. Against this background, we now want them to explain how their principles are implemented in practice,” says Jacob Ehlerth Jørgensen, Head of ESG in the Sampension community.
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