Amazon workers on strike in Germany

Friday, March 28, 2014, Vol. 38, No. 13

BERLIN (AP) — Workers at one of Amazon.com's German distribution centers are on strike in a dispute over wages.

The ver.di union said Monday that workers at the American online retailer's logistics center in Leipzig were staging the short-term warning strike to try to get management to return to the negotiating table.

Ver.di says it may extend the action to other logistics centers, and is also threatening multiple-day strikes.

Amazon has offered Christmas bonuses to workers but the union says it also wants wage increases.

The union says Amazon workers receive lower pay than others in retail and mail-order jobs. Amazon says its distribution warehouses in Germany are logistics centers and employees already earn wages on the upper end of that industry.

Amazon has about 9,000 fulltime employees in Germany.