Protesters across Europe are upset with Amazon over wages, robots, and the environmental impact of 1-day delivery.

The BBC reports Amazon Protests Erupt Across

Germany

• Workers at six Amazon distribution centres in Germany have staged a Black Friday walkout in a dispute over pay and conditions. The union Verdi, which called the strike, said its members' hard work could not be bought for "knock-down prices".
• German workers walked out overnight at Amazon centres in Leipzig, Bad Hersfeld, Koblenz, Rheinberg, Werne and Graben. The strike is due to last all weekend, with employees at some centres staying away until early Tuesday morning.

France

• At the online retailer's depot in Bretigny-sur-Orge, south of Paris, dozens of climate change activists blocked the path of lorries trying to enter the site.
• Other protesters converged on Amazon's French headquarters in Clichy, north of Paris. The activists held banners with slogans including "Stop Amazon and its world" and "Amazon: for the climate, for employment, stop expanding, stop overproduction".

Ban Black Friday

1. An "anti-waste" bill was amended to include a proposal to prohibit Black Friday by a French legislative committee on Monday. France's former Environment Minister Delphine Batho tabled the amendment, which will be debated next month in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
2. "Black Friday celebrates a model of consumption that is anti-ecological and anti-social," said MP Mattieu Orphelin, a former member of President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party.
3. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is considering implementing new regulations to protect the climate, including a tax on deliveries to ease traffic jams and pollution caused by Amazon and other companies.

GMB joined by Labour Party Candidates Lou Haigh and Oliver Blake this morning outside Amazon ⁦⁦@GMB_union⁩ ⁦@GMBCampaigns⁩ ⁦@LouHaigh⁩ ⁦@OliverBlake17⁩ ⁦@RixyieOrganiser⁩ ⁦@leeparkinson14⁩ pic.twitter.com/DZvOrBcbod

— Sue Wood (@SueWood09373512) November 29, 2019

A freezing dawn on #BlackFriday outside the Rugeley @amazon depot with the @GMB standing up for the rights of @amazon workers. One young man with his child nearly in tears just sacked. A 21st century company! More like a 19th century millowner. Shame on you, @JeffBezos pic.twitter.com/751vK7YFNY

— Jack Dromey MP (@JackDromeyMP) November 29, 2019

Billions of Satisfied Customers

Amazon ships around 10 billion packages per year

But environmentalists accuse Amazon of accelerating climate change through its rapid delivery services, which they say contribute to greenhouse gases emissions.

Amazon a Godsend

Amazon is a godsend. It is popular for a reason. Billions of buyers and deliveries prove it.

Banning Black Friday is of course the exact sort of proposal one would expect from French MPs.

I strongly suspect some of these people protesting Amazon also protested the gas tax hikes by president Macron that led to Yellow Vest French Riots that went on for months.

Recall that Macron raised gas taxes to save the environment then was forced to roll them back.

US Corporations for a Reason

France has zero of the Top 25 Technology Companies. The US has the top four (Facebook is ahead of Tencent in that list).

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Intel are US corporations for a reason.

France and the EU would bust up all of those companies in the name of competition, resulting in inefficiency and more than likely increasing carbon emissions as well.

Regardless, rest assured the world will not be saved by stopping Amazon.

Great Strength of the US

For further discussion of innovation, ideas, and the great strength of the US, please consider Trump's Impossible Fight to Stop Theft of Ideas.