AMAZON

& THE
COVID-19
CRISIS

ESSENTIALLY
IRRESPONSIBLE

www.uniglobalunion.org
AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS:
ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE

“Amazon is exceptionally well-managed

and has demonstrated great skill at spotting
opportunities and building repeatable processes
for exploiting them. It has a corresponding lack
of vision about the human costs of the relentless
growth and accumulation of wealth and power.
If we don’t like certain things Amazon is doing,
we need to put legal guardrails in place to stop
those things. We don’t need to invent anything
new; a combination of antitrust and living-wage
and worker-empowerment legislation, rigorously
enforced, offers a clear path forward.”

Former Amazon Vice President Tim Bray who

resigned in protest of Amazon’s practices
during the Coronavirus pandemic.
AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS
INTRODUCTION

The Coronavirus pandemic has had an im-

measurable impact on workers and commu-
nities around the world. As people sheltered
during the lockdown, demand for e-com-
forced to either go to the government author-
merce and cloud computing increased tre-
ities or strike to force Amazon to respect their
mendously and with it, Amazon’s increasing
safety. The message is clear: Amazon will do
leverage over our economy and society.
the right thing but only if organized workers,
The pandemic has already had devastating government and civil society force its hand.
effects on much of our economy and may ac- Amazon must do better.
celerate long-term trends that are concentrat-
In the context of its very poor social perfor-
ing power in the hands of a few big tech com-
mance, Amazon’s strengthened market posi-
panies. The crisis further solidified the role of
tion during and after the pandemic is a threat
e-commerce as brick-and-mortar stores closed
to our economies and societies. Amazon’s im-
and it is widely predicted that at least some of
pact reaches far beyond retail. The tech giant
the shift towards online shopping will become
is not only an e-commerce force but also a
permanent, altering the urban landscape of
leader in cloud computing, video streaming,
cities and towns across the world.
virtual assistance, media, physical grocery re-
Amazon’s success during the crisis meant its tail, pharmacy, and it has showed ambitions
founder, Jeff Bezos, already the richest man to develop into wireless networks, healthcare
on earth, got significantly richer. During the and internet service provision. Amazon is not
two-week period between March 18th and just a threat to workers but to those who be-
June 17th his wealth increased from $113.0 lieve in privacy and civil liberties, and a di-
billion to $156.8 billion, and then to $182.6 verse marketplace. This world belongs to us,
billion as Amazon stock hit all-time highs in not Amazon.
early July —making him the wealthiest per-
We must ensure that the recovery from the
son on earth by an even greater margin than
coronavirus pandemic leads us to a world that
before. But Amazon did not do enough for
is more just, sustainable, and democratic than
the workers that make Amazon run.
the one we had before. That fight begins now.
Amazon failed to listen to workers when
they spoke up out of fear for their lives. In the
United States, Amazon fired tech and ware- Christy Hoffman
house workers who stood up for safety. In Eu- General Secretary of UNI Global Union
rope, workers in Spain, Italy and France were

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 5
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Primed for rapid expansion before the pandemic, Amazon has ex-
ploited its dominant position in e-retail and web services during the
crisis to become an inescapable part of modern life in many markets.
Its political and economic influence has grown as quickly as its rev-
enues, and the company’s ascent raises fundamental questions about
how Amazon should be structured and regulated.
Amazon already controlled 50% of the U.S. e-commerce market,
but during the COVID-19 crisis, traffic on Amazon.com increased
by as much as 20%, while demand for some services, such as home
grocery delivery, soared by as much as 90% while brick and mor-
tar stores were temporarily shuttered in many countries. Many of
these traditional retail shops will not be able to afford a multi-month
closure and never re-open again, further reducing competition for
e-retailers.
But brick-and-mortar stores are not the only ones that suffered
while Amazon’s revenues increased. Third-party vendors using the
Amazon Marketplace platform were squeezed as well. Amazon tem-
porarily halted deliveries of third-party, non-essential products to
customers but continued to ship its own non-essential products.
This move hurt the two million authorized sellers who depend on
Amazon for access to markers, but who also compete directly with
the company’s products. Only sellers who had the infrastructure and
capacity to sell and deliver products outside the Amazon marketplace
were able to mitigate losses, but this category is a minority.
With much of our work,
school, and entertainment be-
With a strengthened position, and crisis in ing streamed at home, we are
the wider economy, Amazon is positioned to more reliant on Amazon Web
Services (AWS) that host ser-
make anti-competitive acquisitions at rock vices such as Zoom and Netflix.
bottom prices. At the end of 2019, AWS’s mar-
ket share in cloud services was
estimated at 33%, more than
the combined share of its three largest competitors, and its sales shot
up 33% in Q1 2020, signaling rapid growth to come. The company’s
market share is so large that one reporter said she could not “function
normally” by avoiding AWS. Just as Amazon.com, in many ways, has
become the e-commerce market, AWS has become the internet.
With a strengthened position, and crisis in the wider economy,
Amazon is positioned to make anti-competitive acquisitions at rock
bottom prices. It is already happening: Amazon’s purchase of a stake
in the online food-delivery company Deliveroo was approved on an

6 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

expedited basis in April 2020
to save Deliveroo from in-
solvency. In early May 2020,
Amazon was reported to be
considering acquiring AMC
Entertainment Holdings Inc.,
the largest cinema operator in
the world, giving Amazon’s
studio a powerful direct chan-
nel to reach theatregoers in
the U.S. and Europe. In the
U.S., Amazon is reportedly
considering acquiring the now
bankrupt retailer J.C. Penny.
In India, Amazon is consider-
ing upping its stake in Future
Retail Group, which has seen
its share price weakened by of its partners and competitors. On 23 April
one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. 2020, a Wall Street Journal investigation
showed that Amazon was using data from its
An additional competitive advantage for own sellers to launch competing products.
Amazon, as it soaks up more market share, The publication amplified the political pres-
is an exceptionally aggressive tax avoidance sure on the company: on 28 April, a Senator
regime. During the last six years, Amazon urged the Justice Department to open a crim-
paid only $7.8 billion in income taxes, 11 inal antitrust investigation based on WSJ’s
times less than Apple and 4.4 times less than findings, and later on 1 May a group of seven
Microsoft or Walmart paid. In Europe, Am- lawmakers sent a letter to Jeff Bezos, asking
azon pays almost no taxes; on the contrary, him to testify before the Congress over com-
in the last two years Amazon Europe received pany’s previous statements that it does not use
tax credits for more than half a billion euros. third-party data to launch competing private
This behaviour has directly contributed to the label brands.
structural underfinancing of public services,
including health care systems, exposed brutal- However, more is needed. Just as our world
ly during the pandemic. This stands in stark will radically change after the pandemic, so
contrast to many traditional retailers and hy- will Amazon. But the question of whether the
permarkets that do pay their fair share of tax- company’s stranglehold on our markets and
es—taxes that will be critically needed as gov- communities will tighten will be answered by
ernments try to pay for coronavirus economy the resistance of regulators, community orga-
recovery plans. nizations, labour unions, and anti-monopoly
activists.
In recent months, calls for investigations
against Amazon have been escalating. Early
in 2020, the Federal Trade Commission was MARKET
reportedly collecting probes on how Amazon
prioritizes its products and services over those

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 7
i
DOMINANCE BEFORE THE CRISIS

The coronavirus crisis found Amazon in a position of strength. For

years, the e-commerce giant had been growing rapidly in terms of
sales, footprint, headcount, and stock price. The company’s impres-
sive growth was fueled by a series of strategic choices that put ahead
of profits and employees’ wellbeing.
That drive for an ever expanding piece of the pie has made Am-
azon the largest online retailer and Amazon Web Services (AWS) is
the world’s biggest cloud computing business. From 2013 to 2019,
its revenue increased by an average of 46% per year – compared to
10.3% for Microsoft or 8.7% for Apple. In the meantime, revenues
of large traditional retailers rose incrementally or even fell. In the
same period, Walmart’s sales rose by 1.7% per year, while Carrefour’s
sales dropped. In the United States, Amazon.com accounts for al-
most of half of all retail e-commerce, and its closest competition lags
far behind.1

OPERATING INCOME, IN USD MILLION 2017 2018 2019

Online retail, total -225 5125 5340

North America 2837 7267 7033

International -3062 -2142 -1693

AWS 4331 7296 9201

Consolidated operating income 4106 12421 14541

Consolidated net income 3033 10073 11588

Figure 1: Amazon’s operating income

In part, Amazon has reached this growth through tolerating

loss-making operations. For years, profits from Amazon Web
Services (AWS) were covering losses from the company’s on-
line retail operations. As shown in Figure 1, after more than 20
years in business, Amazon’s International division is still losing
money: in the last three years this segment’s total net operating
losses amounted to $6.9 billion.
The rise of Amazon is also built on the company’s aggressive
practices towards its competition, using a range of anti-com-
petitive techniques to acquire market share and get rid of di-
rect competition. In its role as a retailer, Amazon acts both as
a seller and as a platform provider, operating a marketplace in
which two million third-party sellers are authorized to sell their
products.2

8 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

 Amazon has been accused of predatory pricing and excessive con-
trol over third-party sellers that use its platform.3 For the latter, Am-
azon has imposed contractual provisions that prohibit third-parties
from selling products at lower prices through competing e-commerce
platforms.4 Third-party sellers have become dependent on Amazon’s
platform and have entered into horizontal agreements on price with
the e-commerce giant, effectively impeding price competition.5 Am-
azon has also used the wealth of data from its web servers to copy
competitor’s products and services or to gain competitive advantages
when entering new markets.6
Amazon’s growth has gone beyond e-com-
merce and cloud services. In 2017, the acquisi-
tion of U.S. grocery store chain Whole Foods for Amazon has been accused of
$13.7 billion meant that the e-commerce giant
bought a significant brick-and-mortar platform
predatory pricing and excessive
– allowing it to gain control over a large number control over third-party sellers
of urban locations – and a big shopping database that use its platform.
that could be useful for the expansion of its on-
line grocery business and private label offerings.

ii
COVID-19 STRENGTHENED AMAZON’S
GRIP ON COMMERCE, ONLINE AND OFFLINE

The coronavirus pandemic has had devastating effects on tradi-

tional, brick and mortar retail, pushing commerce online as non-es-
sential shops were temporarily shuttered. In the U.S., more than 90
major retailers temporarily closed their stores,7 while market analysts
predict than more than 15,000 stores will close in 2020, many of
them for good.8 In most European countries, shops selling non-es-
sential items were ordered to shut during lockdowns.9
E-commerce sales surged during the epidemic. According to Ado-
be, during the COVID-19 pandemic “online shopping has become
the primary means of commerce for huge social distancing populations
around the world as purchases previously made in person are shifted on-
line.” As nearly 1 billion people were confined in their homes global-
ly,10 online retail rose in all countries where there is infrastructure to
support these types of operations. One example of this phenomenon
is home delivery in France, where sales shot up 90% year over year.

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 9
 INCREASE IN SUPERMARKET AND ONLINE SALES IN FRANCE
AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK DURING THE WEEK
OF 16 MARCH TO 22 OF MARCH, 2020, COMPARED TO THE
CORRESPONDING MONTH OF LAST YEAR

100%
90%
80% 74% 74%
62%
60%

40% 35%
18% 21%
20%

0%
ket ket l
rmar rmar Hard Urba
n Rura Drive Hom
e
Hype Supe co unts outle
ts
outle
ts
e l i very
dis d

Source of data: Nielsen, Statista

Figure 2: Increase in supermarket and online sales in France

However, not all e-commerce players ben- AMAZON INCREASES SALES

efited equally from the increase. According
to a survey conducted among 304 retailers in DURING COVID-19
U.S., only a minority (38%) expected their As the lockdown accelerated the shift from
e-commerce sales to jump somewhat or sig- offline to online, Amazon has benefited from
nificantly during the lockdown.11 As e-com- an increased demand across almost all its
merce sales increase during the pandemic, business lines: on-line sales, physical stores,
customers typically don’t switch from physi- entertainment, and cloud computing. This
cal stores to the corresponding on-line stores, growth underscores Amazon’s opportunity
but rather to the usual suspects such as Ama- in this new environment to consolidate more
zon, eBay, Cdiscount, bol.com or the online power against its competitors.
divisions of major retailers, such as Walmart, Between March 5 and March 31, total dai-
Target, Auchan or Carrefour. Although sales ly visits on Amazon.com were up 9.4% from
through e-commerce platforms of smaller the beginning to the end of the month. In
players might increase somewhat, it cannot Italy, one of the countries most affected by the
replace sales volumes lost in physical stores. COVID-19 epidemic, sales rose by 9% in the
While the full impact of the pandemic’s ef- first week and by 21% in the second week of
fects on commerce are not yet known, there is March.12
little doubt that it will have far reaching im- Sales of grocery products on Amazon.com
pacts on the way we shop and consume me- doubled during the week of March 16 com-
dia. There is also little doubt that this crisis pared to the week of January 6, while beauty
will benefit larger players, like Amazon, who and personal care items rose by 47%. Addi-
have the capital to weather the storm and tionally, the integration of offline with online
emerge stronger. was enhanced, as grocery delivery capacity
was increased by more than 60% during the
pandemic and in-store pickup was expanded
from 80 Whole Food stores to more than 150
stores.

10 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

 Amazon intends to spend its
estimated $4 billion in Q2 op-
erating profit on COVID-re-
lated expenses, using its vast
capital to cement its position
in the pandemic, which many
of its competitors will be un-
able to match. New York Uni-
versity Professor Scott Gallo-
way predicts that Amazon
will build the first virus proof
supply chain; make a major
push around PPE, testing,
and vaccination and use the
experience as a spring board
into the multi-trillion dollar
per year healthcare industry.13
On April 21, at the height of
the pandemic in Europe, with workers and unions suggests that deliveries of
orders surging, Amazon decided to slash the non-essential items continued.
affiliate commission fees it pays to third-party The policy sparked confusion and panic
websites, once again unfairly disrupting other among third-party sellers. Ten days after the
businesses for its own benefit and demonstrat- restrictions were put in place, Amazon an-
ing its excessive market power.14 Amazon has nounced it would expand the range of prod-
for years operated an affiliate adverting pro- ucts accepted at its warehouses on an item-
gram, which allows members to link to Ama- by-item basis.
zon products in exchange for a percentage of
the sales. The program drives significant reve- In the meantime, independent observers
nue for websites like BuzzFeed, The New York pointed out that Amazon favoured its own
Times and Vox Media.15 listings of non-essential products over those of
independent sellers despite the latter offering
AMAZON CONTROLS THE shorter delivery schedules. Amazon blamed
this on an algorithm glitch and pledged to fix
PLATFORM IT COMPETES the problem.16
ON, PUTTING THIRD-PARTY In France, an April court decision required
SELLERS AT RISK Amazon to work with unions to assess and put
in place relevant measures to address health
On March 17, as the epidemic emerged,
and safety risks. If it were unable to achieve
Amazon announced it would temporarily
this, then Amazon would be required to restrict
stop supplying its warehouses with non-es-
sales of non-essential goods. After the decision,
sential goods from third-party sellers in the
Amazon announced it would temporarily shut
U.S. Originally announced to
end on April 5, the restriction
was then extended to April 13.
As the lockdown accelerated the shift from
However, Amazon did not
stop delivering non-essential offline to online, Amazon has benefited from
goods from its own stocks. an increased demand across almost all its
Widespread reports from
business lines.

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 11
 down all activities in France.17 After weeks of closure, the compa-
ny finally reached a deal with unions, but the company’s unilateral
stoppage affected not just workers and customers but merchants on
Amazon’s Marketplace platform.
Losing sales on Amazon
Marketplace even for a short
Losing sales on Amazon Marketplace even for period of time can be fatal for
many third-party sellers. For
a short period of time can be fatal for many example, Molson Hart, who
third-party sellers. sells toys on Amazon reports:
“Were we to be suspended from
selling on Amazon.com, it would
probably take three to six months before we’d be bankrupt. We are not
alone. This is typical for small to medium sized businesses which sell
online today. In fact, most companies like our own, would probably go
bust even faster.”18
Reportedly, more than half of Amazon sellers were affected by the
company’s decision to freeze Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) shipments
during the COVID-19 crisis.19 While freezing FBA, Amazon has not
allowed third party sellers to remove their goods from Amazon ware-
houses, which means in practice “that storing inventory in FBA for
more than a month comes with fees rendering any future profit for a
seller impossible.”20
Only sellers who had the infrastructure and capacity to sell and
deliver products outside the Amazon marketplace were able mitigate
losses, but this category is a minority: many sellers reportedly make
at least 90% of their revenues via Amazon, which renders them par-
ticularly vulnerable.21 Some smaller sellers have already announced
layoffs of workers directly handling Amazon shipments.

12 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

AMAZON WEB SERVICES: POWERING IN
THE COVID-19 ERA
AWS has been the main driver of the company’s cash flow
for years, and cloud computing profits are subsidizing research,
acquisitions, and international expansion driving revenues
through loss-making operations. The strategic importance of
AWS is hard to overestimate. Although it accounted for only
12.5% of total sales, the cloud business contributed to 63% of
the consolidated operating income in 2019.22
At the end of 2019, Amazon’s market share in cloud services
was estimated at 33%, more than the combined share of its
three largest competitors, as in Figure 3 below.23 Amazon’s
dominant position in the market reportedly attracted the at-
tention of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in late
2019.24 A reporter who tried to cut AWS out of her life in
2019 concluded, “Amazon is deeply embedded in my life. I use it
repeatedly every single day whether I realize it or not. Without it,
I cannot function normally.” 25

Q4 2019 MARKET ANNUAL GROWTH

CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER
SHARE 2019 VS. 2018
AWS 32.4% 33.2%

Microsoft Azure 17.6% 62.0%

Google Cloud 6.0% 67.6%

Alibaba Cloud 5.4% 71.1%

Others 38.5% 24.4%

Total 100% 37.20%

Source: Canalys.com
Figure 3: AWS Market Share

With more people using video conferencing services as they

work or are schooled from home as well as relying more on
streaming for home entertainment, COVID-19 will likely in-
crease the need for cloud computing until a vaccine is devel-
oped.26 Although not directly attributable at this stage to the
pandemic, AWS sales were up 33% in Q1, indicating their tra-
jectory of rapid growth in 2020.
The internet is a public trust and the increasing consolida-
tion in web-services threatens the democratic internet itself. It
is critical to ensure profits generated by AWS are not used to
unfairly subsidize loss-making operations that provide cheap
products, cheap service and cheap labour, destroying compet-
itors and building monopolies that will sooner or later raise
prices and capture all the profits.

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 13
iii
TAX AVOIDANCE FEEDS EXPANSION,
LEAVES COMPETITORS AT A
DISADVANTAGE

Amazon’s long-term strategy, which means INCOME TAXES, IN USD BILLIONS

reinvesting almost all cash flows into expan- 25
sion, research and development, results in
meager profits and low taxes (See Figure 4). 20
Big tech companies are notorious for avoiding 15
tax, but Amazon is the uncontested leader.
10
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 5
EXPENDITURES, IN USD BILLION
0
40 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
35 Amazon Microsoft Apple

30 Carrefour Walmart

25 Figure 5: Amazon income taxes vs. others

20

15

10 NET INCOME AS % OF REVENUE

5 35%

0 30%
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
25%
Amazon Microsoft Apple
20%

Figure 4: Research Expenditures vs Peers 15%

10%
Amazon is both a tech company and a giant
retailer. The average net profit margin of Ap- 5%
ple and Microsoft over the last six years was 0%
21.9% and 24.4% respectively, while Ama- 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
zon managed a paltry 2.6%, more in line with Amazon Microsoft Apple
the profitability of a retail operation, such as
Carrefour Walmart
Walmart (2.7%). During the period 2014-
2016, Amazon generated less net income Figure 6: Amazon tax over time vs. others
($2.8 billion) than the French hypermarket
chain Carrefour ($3.4 billion). Only in 2018
and 2019 Amazon has reached a net profit
margin of slightly more than 4%, but it is still
lagging far behind its tech competition.
14 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS
 During the last six years, Amazon paid
only $7.8 billion in US federal income
taxes, which is 11 times less than Apple
has paid during the same time and 4.4
times less than Microsoft or Walmart paid
(See Figure 5). In fact, Amazon paid only
slightly more than the double the income
taxes paid by Carrefour, although the fi-
nancial markets value Amazon almost 37
times higher than the French retailer (See
Figure 6).27
Internationally, the company has been
sued for illegal tax benefits it has received
in Luxembourg. In 2017, the company
was fined €250 million, plus interest,
which covered unpaid taxes for eight years.28 Since that decision from
the European Commission, little has changed in terms of Amazon’s
fiscal conduct in Europe: the company continued to report losses
and gather tax credits. In 2018, Amazon Europe made a pre-tax loss
of €493 million and its loss more than doubled in 2019, to €983
million. As a result, Amazon Europe received tax credits of more
than half a billion euros in the last two years (€241 million in 2018
and €294 million in 2019).29 Amazon has also been involved in tax
disputes in France, where it settled a €200 million dispute, and in
Italy,30 where it agreed to pay €100 million.

TOTAL INCOME TAXES 2014-2019, IN USD BILLIONS

50

40

30

20

10

0
Apple Microsoft Walmart Amazon Carrefour

2014 - 2016 2017 - 2019

Figure 7: Income taxes 2014-2019

In December 2019, Fair Tax Mark ranked Amazon as the worst

company among the Silicon Six in a ranking of poor tax conduct,
saying that “the cash tax paid was 12.7% of profit over the decade, at a
time when the federal headline rate of tax in the United States was 35%
for seven of the eight years under examination.” 31

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 15
iv
AMAZON’S WORKERS ARE EXPOSED
TO HIGH RISKS AND THE COMPANY’S
EFFORTS ARE INSUFFICIENT

With the flood of orders coming in during The hazard pay of USD/EUR/GBP 2 per
the lockdown, Amazon had two challenges: it hour provided to Amazon’s ‘eligible’ employ-
needed an increased workforce in order to re- ees during the coronavirus crisis is in line with
spond to increased demand while at the same similar hazard pay provided by other com-
time ensuring an adequate level of protection panies such as Albertsons, Target, Walmart,
for its workers. Krogers or Safeway – and did little to comfort
Amazon was already one of the largest pri- the workforce.37 Without available paid time
vate employers in the world—and that was off, many workers had to risk their health and
before it hired 100,000 workers in March even their lives in order to feed their fami-
and announced the hiring of another 75,000 lies.38
workers in April.32 As the number of COVID-19 cases in Am-
Tensions in the warehouses quickly esca- azon warehouses mounted, Amazon employ-
lated. Amazon reported implementing some ees walked out of their facilities in Queens,
measures such as using thermal cameras,33 NY,39 Chicago, IL40 and Detroit, MI.41 Work-
providing protective equipment and promot- ers in Detroit protested Amazon’s continued
ing social distancing in the warehouses,34 al- shipment of non-essential items that increase
lowing white-collar employees to work from workloads and reduce the ability to imple-
home35, and ensuring that all employees diag- ment social distancing.42 Grocery workers at
nosed with COVID-19 or placed into quar- Amazon’s Whole Foods Market subsidiary
antine will be eligible to receive up to two- have also engaged in work stoppages.43
weeks of paid leave in the U.S.36 Amazon reportedly fired at least six employ-
ees that have been vocal against the company’s
policies during the pandemic
in the U.S., and several other
workers have reported facing
disciplinary write-ups from
Amazon after protesting.44
On 4 May, one of Amazon’s
top engineers, Vice-President
Tim Bray resigned in protest
and penned a public letter to
Amazon condemning its be-
haviour.45
As the virus spread, Ama-
zon’s labour relations and its
health and safety performance
attracted the attention of
public authorities. One group

16 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

of U.S. Senators sent a letter to Amazon CEO COVID-19.51 Workers at Amazon fulfillment
Jeff Bezos, saying that “any failure of Amazon centers near Milan52 and Florence53 in Italy
to keep its workers safe does not just put their staged strikes for enhanced safety measures
employees at risk, it puts the entire country at in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.54
risk. The virus that causes COVID-19 can live In France, workers at multiple sites have said
for up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to three that physical distancing measures have been
days on plastic and stainless steel.” 46 Another inadequate in warehouses.55 A French court
letter to Amazon from U.S. legislators noted, ruled that Amazon could temporarily sell
“even prior to the dire global health crisis, these only essential food, hygiene and health items,
facilities have a proven record of high health and until Amazon evaluated the risks linked to
safety standard violations.” 47 COVID-19 with staff representatives and
Significant investors in Amazon also pub- put in place appropriate safety measures.56
licly raised concerns. The New York City
Pension Funds and the Dutch asset manager
APG, with a combined $4.2 billion invested
in Amazon, publicly wrote to Amazon’s board
of directors over the health and safety reports
from workers. They call for board oversight
of investments in health and safety to ensure
they mean improvements for workers, and
pledge to “hold them accountable”.48
As of April 14, nearly 75 of Amazon’s 110
U.S. warehouse facilities had at least one
worker test positive for COVID-19. By May
Amazon was refusing to disclose the total
number of workers infected with coronavirus
but unofficial tallies put the number at more
than 900 workers.49 In a report on the sub-
ject Hedge Clippers and the Athena coalition
concluded that “the magnitude and severity of
the coronavirus pandemic will require Amazon
to take decisive action to protect public health. In response, Amazon shut its French ware-
As one of the largest private sector employers in houses.57 Later, trade unions negotiated a deal
the country, Amazon has a responsibility to the with Amazon in France that allowed them to
300,000 people who power its extensive ware- return to work safely.58 In Germany, workers
house and delivery operations as well as the over told media that equipment was not adequate-
hundred million customers who are relying on ly sanitized and physical distancing measures
Amazon deliveries”.50 were not always followed.59
Amazon workers across Europe protest- In, Spain union Comisiones Obreras (FSC-
ed workplace safety and heavy workloads CC.OO) filed a request with the Labour
after several workers were diagnosed with Inspectorate (Inspección de
Trabajo y Seguridad Social) to
review Amazon’s health and
By May Amazon was refusing to disclose safety response to the pandemic
the total number of workers infected with after the company announced
coronavirus but unofficial tallies put the its first three COVID-19 cases
in two Spanish warehouses.60 In
number at more than 900 workers. San Fernando de Henares near

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 17
 Madrid, a labor ministry team carried out a ing emergency procedures to protect workers
10-hour inspection and ordered Amazon to and contractors, but Amazon did not reply.
correct deficiencies within two days.61 Those “Amazon refuses to recognize trade unions and
measures included accommodating physical they will not communicate with us,” he said.65
distance between workers, disinfecting facil- UNI Global Union’s Amazon Alliance of
ities where workers have been diagnosed with trade unions in 22 countries has called on the
COVID-19, providing personal protective company to give its workers unlimited paid
equipment, and providing daily updates on time off, necessary PPE, handwashing breaks,
confirmed and presumed cases.62 63 and required space for social distancing. The
In the UK, GMB Union representatives re- Alliance has also noted that the “crisis can be
ported that workers at various Amazon fulfil- opportunity for Amazon to learn that social di-
ment centres worked in crowds of 200-300 alogue and collective bargaining are vital tools
people and had to reuse equipment without that modern societies and companies use to pro-
available hand sanitizer.64 The national office tect workers’ health and save people’s lives.”66
of the GMB Union wrote to Amazon request-

v
WILL WE LET AMAZON SHAPE
A POST COVID-19 WORLD?

Antitrust investigations against Amazon were already under way in

several countries before the coronavirus crisis erupted. In India, the
Competition Commission (CCI) opened a probe into Amazon and
Flipkart after a trader group complained that the e-commerce giants
were “racking up billions of dollars of losses to fund deep discounts and
discriminating against small sellers”.67
In Europe, investigations are being conducted at both the nation-
al and transnational level. In July 2019, the European Commission
launched an antitrust investigation over the use of merchants’ data
on Amazon Marketplace.68 In February 2020, it was reported that
EU antitrust regulators were considering to push for more ex ante
regulation against the tech giants in order to protect the interests of
smaller players.69 And on June 11, in what could be Amazon’s biggest
regulatory challenge to date, reports emerged that European Union
officials are preparing antitrust charges against Amazon for abusing
its dominance in internet commerce. According to the reports, regu-
lators have determined that Amazon is stifling competition by using
the data collected from third-party merchants to boost its own prod-
uct offerings.70

18 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

 Meanwhile, in Spain, the National Commis-
sion on Markets and Competition was looking
to determine if Amazon may be considered a
postal services provider and so should be sub-
ject of increased scrutiny from authorities.71
Calls for investigations against Amazon have
also been increasing in the U.S. Early in 2020,
the Federal Trade Commission was reportedly
collecting probes on how Amazon prioritizes
its products and services over those of its part-
ners and competitors.72 On April 23 2020, a
Wall Street Journal investigation showed that
Amazon was using data from its own sellers
to launch competing products.73 The publi-
cation amplified the political pressure on the
company: on April 28th, a Senator urged the
Justice Department to open a criminal antitrust investigation based
on WSJ’s findings,74 and later on 1 May a group of seven lawmakers
sent a letter to Jeff Bezos on 1 May 2020, asking him to testify before
the Congress over company’s previous statements that it does not use
third-party data to launch competing private label brands.75
In the United Kingdom, Amazon’s purchase of a stake in the online
food-delivery company Deliveroo had been scrutinized by the com-
petition authority since June 2019 and a decision was due later this
year, but the regulator decided on April 17, 2020, to give the deal a
green light as business conditions have rapidly deteriorated for De-
liveroo and it needed the cash from the tech giant.76 The case of De-
liveroo highlights how Amazon has strengthened during the Coro-
navirus lockdown – takeover deals that otherwise were questioned
by competition authorities were facilitated by the crisis, as smaller
players found it difficult to navigate through these tough times.
In early May, Amazon was reported to be
considering acquiring AMC Entertainment ...deals that otherwise were
Holdings Inc., the largest theatre operator in
the world, giving Amazon’s studio a powerful questioned by competition
channel to reach consumers. In the U.S., such authorities were facilitated by
an acquisition would until recently run afoul of the crisis...
antitrust law: the Paramount Consent Decrees
in place since 1948 blocked a studio’s ability to
own theaters. However, the Trump Administration opened a review
of the decrees in 2019 with an eye towards weakening them.77 The
pandemic made the potential deal even more attractive: as the virus
spread and the lockdown took hold, AMC’s share price was battered
and the company teetered towards bankruptcy.
These cases show how coming out of the crisis, Amazon’s strength-
ened position and crisis in the wider economy could allow Amazon
to make anti-competitive acquisitions that under normal circum-
stances would not be tolerated.

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 19
 WORKERS AND COMMUNITIES NEED TO BE AT
THE CENTER OF THE RECOVERY
The COVID-19 crisis is radically reshaping our world, and one of
its unfortunate side effects is the acceleration of Amazon’s domina-
tion of our markets and, frankly, many aspects of our lives—how we
work, how we consume entertainment, how we communicate.
So far, the company has not used its power as a force for social
good—it has avoided taxes, squeezed small and medium sized busi-
nesses, dragged down labour conditions.
While many organizations are suffering during the pandemic, for
Amazon, it presents an opportunity for higher revenues, cash flows,
budgets for research and development and probably profits, as well
as an expedited entry into health care. As the crisis spreads across our
economy, cash-rich Amazon is well positioned to make acquisitions
at bargain basement prices or other investments that further consoli-
date its power. The example of Deliveroo, given regulatory clearance,
and reported interest AMC, J.C. Penny and Future Retail Group
show the potential for Amazon to seize the opportunities created in
the pandemic.
Regulators are already looking at the company’s growth, but more
scrutiny is needed as no company should have this much influence.
The latest developments show positive signs in this respect: the
European Commission has launched an investigation on the Am-
azon Marketplace last year, the Competition Commission of India
has ordered a probe for alleged violations of competition law, while
in U.S. lawyers have filed complaints against Amazon’s dominant
position in e-commerce and the US Congress has called on the US
Department of Justice to Open a criminal investigation into Ama-
zon and for Bezos to testify under oath in
Congress.78
Regulatory pressure on Amazon should
not be limited to competition matters. It
is important that governments provide
adequate financing to public healthcare
and education systems and for this pur-
pose they should impose stricter rules on
taxation to collect a fair share from the
tech giants’ revenues and incomes.
Simply put, just as our world will rad-
ically change after the pandemic, so will
Amazon. But the question of whether
the company’s stranglehold on our mar-
kets and communities will tighten will be
answered by the resistance of regulators,
community organizations, labour unions,
and anti-monopoly activists.

20 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

ENDNOTES
1 Amazon Now Has Nearly 50% of US Ecommerce Market, Times, May 16, 2020, availible at: https://www.nytimes.
Emarketer, Jul. 16, 2018, https://www.emarketer.com/con- com/2020/05/16/business/amazon-france-unions-coro-
tent/amazon-now-has-nearly-50-of-us-ecommerce-market navirus.html
2 Jay Clement, Key metrics of Amazon.com marketplace 18 Molson Hart, How Amazon’s Business Practices Harm
sellers in the United States in 2019, Jan. 20, 2020, Statista, American Consumers: Why Amazon Needs a Competitor
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086637/amazon- and Why Walmart Ain’t It, Medium, available at: https://
com-3p-sellermetrics-Usa medium.com/swlh/amazon-needs-a-competitor-and-
3 Dana Mattioli, Amazon Scooped Up Data From Its Own walmart-aint-it-5997977b77b2
Sellers to Launch Competing Products, The Wall Street 19 Dave Hamrick ‘Amazon Freezes Non-Essential-Product
Journal, April 23, 2020 https://www.wsj.com/articles/ Shipments from Its Third-Party FBA Sellers,‘ Jungle Scout,
amazon-scooped-up-data-from-its-own-sellers-to-launch- April 6, 2020, See https://www.junglescout.com/blog/am-
competing-products-11587650015 azon-freezes-fba-shipments
4 Suit Accuses Amazon Of $55B To $172B In Antitrust 20 Marketplaces Year in Review 2019 See: https://www.
Damages, Law 360, 20 March 2020, https://www.law360. marketplacepulse.com/marketplaces-year-in-review-2019
com/articles/1255358/suit-accuses-amazon-of-55b-to- 21 Spencer Soper, Amazon focus on essentials sows
172b-in-antitrust-damages panic, confusion among merchants, Seattle Times ,
5 Ibid March 23, 2020 https://www.seattletimes.com/busi-
6 Michael Addady, Merchants Say Amazon Is Copying ness/amazon-focus-on-essentials-sows-panic-confu-
Their Products, Fortune, 20 April 2016, https://fortune. sion-among-merchants/
com/2016/04/20/amazon-copies-merchants/ 22 Amazon faces U.S. antitrust scrutiny on cloud busi-
7 Bethany Biron, More than 90 major US retailers are ness: Bloomberg, Reuters, December 15, 2019, availbile at:
temporarily closing stores in an unprecedented move to https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-cloud-
prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Business Insider, 23 ftc/amazon-faces-u-s-antitrust-scrutiny-on-cloud-busi-
March 2020, https://www.businessinsider.com/13-retail- ness-bloomberg-idUSKBN1Y9031
ers-announce-temporarily-store-closures-to-fight-corona- 23 See: https://www.statista.com/chart/18819/world-
virus-2020-3 wide-market-share-of-leading-cloud-infrastructure-ser-
8 Lauren Thomas, Retail store closures in the US could vice-providersEstimation
explode because of the coronavirus, CNBC, 16 March 2020, 24 Lisa Lacy, FTC’s Amazon Investigation Reportedly
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/16/retail-store-closures- Widens to Include Its Web Services, Ad Week, December 5,
in-the-us-could-explode-because-of-coronavirus.html 2019 https://www.adweek.com/digital/ftc-amazon-inves-
9 A list of restrictions in place in different European tigation-reportedly-includes-aws/
countries in available here: https://www.dw.com/en/ 25 Kashmir Hill, I Tried to Block Amazon From My Life. It
coronavirus-what-are-the-lockdown-measures-across-eu- Was Impossible: Gizmodo, January 22, 2019, https://giz-
rope/a-52905137 modo.com/i-tried-to-block-amazon-from-my-life-it-was-
10 Nearly 1 Billion People Confined to Homes Globally impossible-1830565336.
Due to Coronavirus, Agence France-Presse, 21 March 26 Microsoft reported a 775% increase in Teams’ calling
2020. https://www.voanews.com/science-health/ and meeting monthly users in a one-month period in Italy
coronavirus-outbreak/nearly-1-billion-people-con- during the lockdown. See: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-
fined-homes-globally-due-coronavirus us/blog/update-2-on-microsoft-cloud-services-continuity/
11 Greg Sterling, Coronavirus and e-commerce: It’s 27 As of 22 April 2020, Amazon.com Enterprise Value was
complicated, Marking Land, March 12, See: https://mar- USD 1198 billion, while Carrefour Enterprise Value was
ketingland.com/coronavirus-and-e-commerce-its-compli- USD 31.8 billion. See: https://www.gurufocus.com/term/
cated-277480 ev/AMZN/Enterprise-Value/Amazon.com%20Inc, https://
12 See Analysis: Top Selling Products Amid the Coronavi- www.gurufocus.com/term/ev/CRRFY/Enterprise%252BVa-
rus Crisis – How Demand Is Shifting, available at https:// lue/Carrefour
sellics.com/blog-coronavirus-covid-amazon-online-shopping 28 More details on the case: https://ec.europa.eu/com-
13 The Four Horsemen Post-Corona (Scott Galloway), DLD mission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_17_3714
Sync, availible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5- 29 James Cook, Amazon receives £259m in tax credits
jCse_NAXs as European revenue rises to £28bn, The Telegraph, 21
14 See ‘Amazon slashes commission rates for program April 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo-
that gives publishers a cut of sales’, CNBC, available at gy/2020/04/21/amazon-receives-259m-tax-credits-euro-
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/14/amazon-slash- pean-revenue-rises-28bn/
es-commission-rates-for-affiliate-program.html Also Silicon Six and their USD 100 billion global tax gap, Fair
15 Ibid. Tax Mark, December 2019, https://fairtaxmark.net/wp-con-
16 David Lee, ‘Amazon’s ‘non-essential’ sellers return but tent/uploads/2019/12/Silicon-Six-Report-5-12-19.pdf
still face an uphill struggle’ Financial Times, April 22, 2020 30 Reuters News, Amazon to pay 100 million euros to
See: https://www.ft.com/content/970597f4-7882-4a72- settle Italy tax dispute, 15 December 2017, https://www.
8560-55fd4a7778ce reuters.com/article/us-eu-amazon-taxavoidance/eu-or-
17 Liz Alderman, ‘Amazon Reaches Deal With French ders-amazon-to-repay-295-million-in-luxembourg-back-
Unions in Coronavirus Safety Dispute,’ The New York taxes-idUSKCN1C913S

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 21
 31 Silicon Six and their USD 100 billion global tax gap, Fair Amazon fired a worker who led an employee walkout at a
Tax Mark, December 2019, https://fairtaxmark.net/wp-con- fulfillment center in Staten Island, NY to demand a tem-
tent/uploads/2019/12/Silicon-Six-Report-5-12-19.pdf porary closure of the facility for cleaning after a coworker
32 John Koetsier, Amazon Hired 100,000 People was diagnosed with COVID-19. The worker was fired for
Last Month. Now It’s Hiring Another 75,000, Forbes, allegedly violating the company’s quarantine rules after
13 April 2020, Availible at: https://www.forbes. having come into contact with a sick employee. The New
com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/04/13/amazon-hired- York State Attorney General said in a statement, “it is dis-
100000-people-last-month-now-its-hiring-another- graceful that Amazon would terminate an employee who
75000/#3023396a9db4 bravely stood up to protect himself and his colleagues,”
33 “Coronavirus: Amazon using thermal cameras to and she called on the National Labor Relations Board to
detect Covid-19”, BBC News, 20 April 2020, Available at: investigate the firing. The New York City Mayor ordered
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52356177 the city’s Human Rights Commission to launch a civil
34 “Amazon’s COVID-19 blog: daily updates on how we’re investigation.
responding to the crisis,” Amazon.com, April 9, 2020, 45 Tim Bray, Leaving Amazon, availible at: https://www.tbray.
https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/ama- org/ongoing/When/202x/2020/04/29/Leaving-Amazon
zons-actions-to-help-employees-communities-and-cus- 46 U.S. Senator Cory Booker, et al., Letter to Jeff Bezos,
tomers-affected-by-covid-19 CEO of Amazon.com, March 20, 2020, https://www.book-
35 Annie Palmer, “Amazon tells all employees to work er.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1091.
from home if they can,” CNBC, March 12, 2020, https:// “Study reveals how long COVID-19 remains infec-
www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/amazon-tells-all-employees- tious on cardboard, metal and plastic,” Science Daily,
to-stay-home-amid-coronavirus-fears.html. March 20,2020, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releas-
36 Beth Galetti, “COVID-19 Update: More Ways Amazon es/2020/03/200320192755.htm.
is Supporting Employees and Contractors,” Amazon.com, 47 Will Evans, “Ruthless Quotas at Amazon Are Maim-
Inc. Day One Blog, March 11, 2020, https://blog.aboutam- ing Employees,” The Atlantic, December 5, 2019, https://
azon.com/working-at-amazon/covid-19-update-more- www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/11/am-
ways-amazon-is-supporting-employees-and-contractors azon-warehouse-reports-show-worker-injuries/602530/.
37 Catherine Thorbecke, “What to know about hazard See also “Packaging Pain: Workplace Injuries in Amazon’s
pay if you’re working during coronavirus crisis,” ABC Empire,” The Awood Center, Make the Road New Jersey,
News, 4 April 2020, availible at: https://abcnews.go.com/ Make the Road New York, National Employment Law
Business/hazard-pay-working-coronavirus-crisis/sto- Project, New York Communities for Change, United for Re-
ry?id=69934888 spect, Warehouse Workers for Justice, Warehouse Worker
38 Devin Coldewey, “Amazon warehouse workers Resource Center, December 2019, https://www.amazon-
organized to demand PTO, and coronavirus clinched packagingpain.org/the-report.
it”, Techcrunch, 24 March 2020, https://techcrunch. 48 https://comptroller.nyc.gov/newsroom/comp-
com/2020/03/24/amazon-warehouse-workers-orga- troller-stringer-nyc-funds-and-apg-urge-transparen-
nized-to-demand-pto-and-coronavirus-clinched-it cy-from-amazons-independent-directors-regarding-em-
39 David Lee and Patricia Nilsson, “Amazon Workers ployee-health-and-safety-initiatives-amid-covid-19-pan-
Protest Over Normal Shifts Amid Covid-19 Cases,” Finan- demic/
cial Times, March 19, 2020, https://www.ft.com/con- 49 Steve Kovach, Op-Ed: Amazon, it’s time to disclose
tent/08395e49-0bb1-4f49-a6f5-c6639ce3d719. your coronavirus deaths, CNBC, 16 May, 2020, availible
40 Caroline O’Donovan, “As More Amazon Employees at: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/16/op-ed-ama-
Contract The Coronavirus, Workers Are Walking Off The zon-should-disclose-coronavirus-deaths.html
Job,” BuzzFeed News, March 31, 2020, https://www.buzz- 50 Amazon endangers workers, delivers contagion, reaps
feednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-em- the profit, Special Report: April, 2020, http://hedgeclip-
ployees-coronavirus-walkout. pers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AmazonWorker-
41 Sarah Rahal, “Amazon Workers Stage Walkout at sCoronavirus_FD2.pdf
Romulus Warehouse During Covid-19 Crisis,” Detroit 51 Melissa Heikkilä, “‘This is crazy:’ Rage boils over at
News, April 1, 2020, https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ Amazon sites over coronavirus risks,” Politico, March 20,
news/local/wayne-county/2020/04/01/amazon-workers- 2020, https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-ama-
stage-walkout-romulus-warehouse-during-covid-19-cri- zon-employees-rage/.
sis/5103152002/. 52 Isobel Asher Hamilton and Ruqayyah Moynihan,
42 Kim Russell, “Romulus Amazon Employees Protest “Amazon warehouse workers in Italy are striking in out-
Work Conditions as Covid-19 Spreads,” WXYZ ABC 7 rage at the firm’s response to 2 staff contracting corona-
Detroit, April 1, 2020, https://www.wxyz.com/news/coro- virus,” Business Insider, March 17, 2020, https://www.
navirus/romulus-amazon-employees-protest-work-condi- businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-strike-coronavi-
tions-as-covid-19-spreads. rus-2020-3?r=US&IR=T.
43 Mike Snider, “‘US grocery store workers need to be 53 Francesca Landini, “Workers go on strike at Amazon
fairly compensated.’ Protests at Amazon, Whole Foods delivery site in Italy amid coronavirus,” Reuters, March 30,
begin,” USA Today, March 31, 2020, https://www.usato- 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-corona-
day.com/story/money/business/2020/03/31/coronavi- virus-italy-amazon/workers-go-on-strike-at-amazon-de-
rus-workplace-conditions-spur-protests-whole-foods-am- livery-site-in-italy-amid-coronavirus-idUSKBN21H3AN.
azon/5093570002/. 54 Patricia Nilsson and Dave Lee, “Amazon Auditions to
44 Michael Sainato, Amazon is cracking down on pro- Be ‘the New Red Cross’ in Covid-19 Crisis,” Financial Times,
testers and organizing, workers say, The Guardian, 05 March 31, 2020, https://www.ft.com/content/220bf850-
May 2020, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/ 726c-11ea-ad98-044200cb277f.
technology/2020/may/05/amazon-protests-union-orga- 55 Caroline Pailliez and Mourad Guichard, “France says
nizing-cracking-down-workers pressure on Amazon workers ‚unacceptable’ amid lock-

22 AMAZON & THE COVID-19 CRISIS

down,” Reuters, March 19, 2020, https://www.reuters. release, 17 July 2019, European Commission, available at
com/article/us-health-coronavirus-amazon-france/pres- https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/
sures-on-amazons-staff-in-france-unacceptable-minis- IP_19_4291. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge
ter-idUSKBN2161A3. of competition policy, said: „European consumers are
In a work stoppage near Orleans, workers expressed con- increasingly shopping online. E-commerce has boosted
cern that the company was handling non-essential goods. retail competition and brought more choice and better
56 Gaspard Sebag, “Amazon Told to Sell Only Food, Health prices. We need to ensure that large online platforms
items in France,” Bloomberg, 14th April, 2020, don’t eliminate these benefits through anti-competitive
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-14/ behaviour. I have therefore decided to take a very close
amazon-told-to-sell-only-food-health-items-in-france look at Amazon’s business practices and its dual role as
marketplace and retailer, to assess its compliance with EU
57 “Amazon extends closure of French warehouses as
competition rules.”
Covid-19 worker safety fight continues”, 21 April 2020,
https://www.france24.com/en/20200421-amazon-ex- 69 Reuters News, EU antitrust regulators plan broad
tends-closure-of-french-warehouses-as-covid-19-worker- enquiry into tech sector, 12 February 2020. Availible
safety-fight-continues at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-antitrust/
eu-antitrust-regulators-plan-broad-enquiry-into-tech-sec-
58 Liz Alderman, Amazon Reaches Deal With French
tor-idUSKBN2062GA
Unions in Coronavirus Safety Dispute, The New
York Times, 16 May 2020, https://www.nytimes. 70 Adam Satariano, Amazon Set to Face Antitrust
com/2020/05/16/business/amazon-france-unions-coro- Charges in European Union, The New York Times, 11 June
navirus.html 2020, Availible
59 Sören Götz, “Schützt Amazon seine Mitarbeiter at: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/technology/
genug?” (Does Amazon protect its employees enough?), amazon-antitrust-european-union.html
Zeit Online, March 26, 2020, https://www.zeit.de/ 71 Reuters News, Spain’s antitrust watchdog investigates
wirtschaft/unternehmen/2020-03/coronavirus-ama- Amazon delivery services, 19 February 2020. Availible
zon-covid-19-deutschland-mitarbeiter-desinfektionsmit- at: https://www.reuters.com/article/spain-amazon-an-
tel-streik. titrust/update-1-spains-antitrust-watchdog-investi-
60 Jesus Martinez, “Amazon confirma tres casos de gates-amazon-delivery-services-idUSL8N2AJ33Z
Covid-19 en dos almacenes pero descarta cerrarlos”, La 72 Jason Del Rey, Why Congress’s antitrust inves-
Información, 14 March 14, 2020. https://www.lainfor- tigation should make Big Tech nervous, Vox, 6 Feb-
macion.com/empresas/amazon-casos-coronavirus-alma- ruary 2020, available at https://www.vox.com/
cenes-espana-descarta-cerrarlos/6551741. recode/2020/2/6/21125026/big-tech-congress-anti-
61 Fernando Cano, “Amazon tiene dos días para tomar trust-investigation-amazon-apple-google-facebook &
medidas contra el coronavirus en su centro logístico https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/12/in-a-letter-to-ama-
de Madrid”, El Español, 23 March, 2020. https://www. zon-13-ags-call-for-increased-transparency-and-stronger-
elespanol.com/invertia/empresas/tecnologia/20200323/ worker-protections/
amazon-tomar-medidas-coronavirus-centro-logisticoma- 73 Dana Mattioli, Amazon Scooped Up Data From Its
drid/476953795_0.html. Own Sellers to Launch Competing Products, The Wall
62 La Inspección de Trabajo va a pedir a Amazon que tome Street Journal, 23 April 2020, available at https://www.
medidas para evitar contagios en su centro logístico en Es- wsj.com/articles/amazon-scooped-up-data-from-its-own-
paña, El Confidencial Digital, March 20, 2020, https://www. sellers-to-launch-competing-products-11587650015
elconfidencialdigital.com/articulo/dinero/inspeccion-traba- 74 Dana Mattioli, Senator Pushes DOJ to Open Criminal
jo-pide-amazon-tome-medidas-evitar-contagioscentro-lo- Investigation Into Amazon, The Wall Street Journal, 28
gistico-espana/20200320162502141288.html. April 2020, available at https://www.wsj.com/articles/
63 La mayor planta de Amazon de Madrid sigue senator-pushes-doj-to-open-criminal-investigation-in-
abierta al subsanarse deficiencias, La Vanguardia, to-amazon-11588067701
March 30, 2020, https://www.lavanguardia.com/ 75 Julia Carrie Wong, US lawmakers demand Jeff Bezos
vida/20200330/48191789507/la-mayor-planta-de-ama- testify over Amazon’s ‘possibly criminally false’ state-
zon-de-madrid-sigue-abierta-al-subsanarse-deficiencias.html. ments, The Guardian, 1 May 2020, available at https://
64 Craig Smith, “Amazon workers in Fife ‘petrified’ of www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/01/ama-
contracting coronavirus, union says,” The Courier, March zon-jeff-bezos-testify-house-antitrust
25, 2020, https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/ 76 Saloni Sardana, Amazon’s long-delayed investment
fife/1218142/amazon-workers-in-fife-petrified-of-con- in UK takeaway startup Deliveroo provisionally greenlit
tracting-coronavirus-union-says/. thanks to COVID-19 , Business Insider, 17 April 2020,
65 Patricia Nilsson and Dave Lee, “Amazon Auditions to https://www.businessinsider.com/cma-clears-amazon-de-
Be ‘the New Red Cross’ in Covid-19 Crisis,” Financial Times, liveroo-coronavirus.
March 31, 2020, https://www.ft.com/content/220bf850- 77 Tomi Kilgore, AMC’s stock soars after report Amazon
726c-11ea-ad98-044200cb277f. held merger talks, Marketwatch, 12 May 2020, https://
66 “Global alliance of unions demands Amazon take www.marketwatch.com/story/amcs-stock-soars-after-re-
urgent measures to address COVID-19,” UNI Global Union, port-amazon-held-merger-talks-2020-05-11
March 17, 2020, https://uniglobalunion.org/news/glob- 78 Dana Mattioli and Ryan Tracy, Senator Pushes DOJ to
al-alliance-unions-demands-amazon-take-urgent-mea- Open Criminal Investigation Into Amazon, The Wallstreet
sures-address-covid-19. Journal, April 28 2020, Availible at: https://www.wsj.com/
67 Reuters News, India court stalls Amazon, Flipkart articles/senator-pushes-doj-to-open-criminal-investiga-
antitrust probes -lawyers, 14 February 2020. tion-into-amazon-11588067701?mod=lead_feature_be-
low_a_pos1
68 Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into
possible anti-competitive conduct of Amazon, Press

ESSENTIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE 23
www.uniglobalunion.org

AMAZON
& THE
COVID-19
CRISIS

ESSENTIALLY
IRRESPONSIBLE