Worrying! Amazon German workers go on strike! Suez Canal congestion and freight rates soar!

As we all know, Amazon has always valued buyers the most. In Amazon's eyes, sellers and Amazon workers are just its "wingmen", and the treatment Amazon gives to its "wingmen" is really not good.

It is understood that in the Internet industry, Amazon has caused the most labor disputes and conflicts . In the past ten years, countless labor disputes and strikes have occurred around Amazon around the world.

Recently, after Amazon's Italian workers organized a general strike with more than 30,000 employees participating, Amazon's German workers are also preparing for a general strike .

Amazon workers in Germany go on strike

It is learned that on March 29, the German trade union organization Verdi called on employees at six Amazon warehouses in Germany to strike starting on Sunday evening local time, intending to use a four-day strike to force Amazon to accept a collective wage negotiation agreement for employees.

It is understood that the strike locations are six warehouses in Rheinberg, Wein, Koblenz, Leipzig, and Bad Hersfeld in Germany . Verdi said that this strike is equivalent to the "informal start" of wage negotiations in the German retail and mail order industry . The real collective wage negotiations will begin in the next few weeks.

In the collective wage bargaining agreement, Verdi requires employers in the German retail and mail-order industries to give employees a 4.5% pay raise . Verdi union representative Orhan Ackermann said that Amazon has made a lot of money during the epidemic, so such a wage increase is completely feasible.

So why did the union choose to strike during this time?

Some sellers speculated that in addition to being a "preview of collective salary negotiations," another reason might be that Easter is approaching .

Easter is an important festival in the West, which falls on the first Sunday after the full moon on the spring equinox. According to data, the amount of spending by buyers during this period has been increasing year by year, so it is also a good time to sell on Amazon .

This year's Easter falls on April 4th. The German trade union Verdi has called on Amazon warehouse workers to go on strike at this moment, which will inevitably affect Amazon's sales during the Easter period to a certain extent, forcing Amazon to accept a collective wage negotiation agreement for employees in order to avoid losses .

In this regard, sellers who intend to conduct Easter promotions on Amazon Germany are advised to pay close attention to the strike actions of Amazon German workers to avoid suffering heavy losses due to logistics delays caused by the strike .

Speaking of this, we have to mention that Amazon is about to face a "general election" this week that will change its destiny.

Is an Amazon warehouse union about to be formed?

Last month, Amazon's warehouse workers in the United States launched a vote to form a union . Amazon tried to obstruct it in every possible way, but was rejected by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The National Labor Relations Board also gave the green light to this "election". Voting has started at the beginning of this month. Biden also tweeted, asking Amazon not to interfere with the union vote.

This week, nearly 6,000 employees at Bessemer, Alabama’s BHM1 operations storage center will announce the results of a vote to formally decide whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

▲ The picture comes from the Internet

Why would Amazon do everything it can to prevent workers from forming a union? From Amazon's perspective, this means they will face huge troubles in the future: they may be forced to sit down and negotiate with the union, and be forced to increase their salary and benefits. If the negotiations are fruitless, the union may even organize a collective strike and confront Amazon.

The previous Amazon Italian workers’ strike and this time’s Amazon German workers’ strike were both due to the unsuccessful negotiations between the union and Amazon, which led to the workers organizing collective strikes to confront Amazon.

The ones who suffer the most from the fight between Amazon and the union workers are the FBA sellers . After all, once the workers go on strike, FBA cannot operate. I hope that after so many strikes, Amazon will pay more attention to the interests of its employees and stop letting them go on strike.

In addition, it is also learned that last week’s Suez Canal blockage accident has not yet been resolved, the global supply chain is "stuck in the throat", and the prices of sea and air transportation have skyrocketed.

A comprehensive increase! Sea freight and air freight prices soar

It is learned that the stranded ship in the Suez Canal finally refloated early this morning, but as of press time, the congestion in the Suez Canal has not been resolved . At present, more than 453 ships are unable to pass normally near the canal, and billions of dollars worth of important goods and sensitive products are backlogged.

▲ The picture comes from the Internet

Due to the blockage of the Suez Canal, carriers have to stop operations. As a result, the spot freight rates of containers from Asia to Europe will soar again. Some freight forwarders said that if the rescue work lasts for a long time, it may affect the freight rates of all routes in the future .

It is understood that due to the stranded cargo ship, the price of transporting a 40-foot container from China to Europe has risen to nearly US$8,000 (about RMB 52,328), nearly three times higher than a year ago . The difficulties in ocean shipping logistics will inevitably lead more sellers to turn to air delivery. Once supply exceeds demand, the price of air delivery will inevitably soar .

This morning, in the seller communication group, when a seller asked, "The Suez Canal was blocked some time ago, what is the price of air freight now?", a seller replied that the price of air freight to the United States has doubled, and Haipai sold more containers last week, so the price has also increased a lot .

▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

In conclusion, if the congestion in the Suez Canal is not resolved in time, sellers may have to face unprecedented sky-high freight rates in the future , and logistics costs may soar to an unbearable level of pain.

It is learned that at present, some progress has indeed been made in the work of freeing the cargo ship , and rescue operations are ongoing. It is hoped that after this, the congestion problem in the Suez Canal will be resolved as soon as possible.

What do sellers think about the strike by Amazon German workers? Have you encountered any surge in shipping costs? Feel free to leave a comment in the comments section~