World’s biggest e-commerce company Amazon
was hit by protests and strikes on Black Friday. The Seattle-headquartered
company is facing backlash from climate activists who say the company’s
excessive selling is causing harm to the environment, reported BBC. The climate
activists were joined by trade unions who say the company does not pay workers
enough nor give enough tax to governments.

Several protestors from the environmental
movement, known as XR, blocked the company’s largest United Kingdom warehouse,
in Dunfermline in Scotland, as well as sites across England managing around
half of its deliveries in the country.

Activists block Amazon depots

Reuters reported that at an Amazon depot at
Tilbury docks in eastern England, protesters had blocked the entrance, meaning
no vehicles could enter or exit from the place. The group also said it has
blocked Amazon depots in Germany and the Netherlands.

Extinction Rebellion said Amazon is committing
a crime by emitting more carbon dioxide than any medium-sized country, helping
fossil fuel companies.

The protestors staged protests in
Newcastle, Manchester and Bristol on Friday.

Amazon in damage control mode

“We have a large network of sites across
the UK and are working to minimize any potential disruption to customers,”
said a spokesperson for Amazon, which brought the traditional United States
Black Friday discount day to Britain in 2010.

Amazon also said it takes its
responsibilities “very seriously.”

“That includes our commitment to be
net zero carbon by 2040 – 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement – providing
excellent pay and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, and
supporting the tens of thousands of British small businesses who sell on our
store,” the spokesperson added.

The protest is the latest by the activist
network, formed in the UK in 2018, which regularly uses civil disobedience to
highlight government inaction on climate change.