Climate activists close Amazon UK warehouses on Black Friday

Climate activists laid siege to UK Amazon warehouses on Friday in an effort to pressure the e-commerce giant on one of the busiest days of the year to improve working conditions and end environmentally harmful business practices.

Extinction Rebellion members targeted 13 Amazon fulfillment centers in the UK with the goal of disrupting 50% of the company’s deliveries on Black Friday, marking the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season.

Activists have blocked the entrance to an Amazon warehouse in Tilbury, east London, by placing a statue of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on top of a rocket.

At Amazon’s distribution center in Dunfermline, Scotland, about 20 members of Extinction Rebellion put up signs along the access road that read “Make Amazon Pay” and shut themselves off so trucks couldn’t get in and others couldn’t leave.

The group demands that Amazon provide better working conditions, clear environmental commitments and that the company pay its fair share of taxes.

“The action is intended to draw attention to Amazon’s exploitative and environmentally damaging business practices, disregard for workers’ rights in the name of corporate profits and wasting Black Friday,” the group said.

Extinction Rebellion said it’s part of a broader international effort that also targets Amazon’s fulfillment centers in the United States, Germany and the Netherlands.

Amazon did not respond directly to the protests in response to a request for comment, but said the company was taking its responsibilities “extremely seriously”.

“This includes our commitment to be net zero CO2 by 2040 – 10 years before the Paris Agreement – to provide excellent wages and benefits in a safe, modern working environment and to support the tens of thousands of small businesses in the UK that sell in our warehouse,” the company said.