Amazon France Ends Court Battle Over COVID-19 Worker Safety
The company said it would drop its appeal to France's highest court and "gradually reopen" its facilities in France after agreeing on consultation with unions.
May 18, 2020 at 03:00 AM
2 minute read
Amazon France will not be pursuing its appeal of a COVID-19 health and safety case in France's highest court, having reached an accord with worker representatives, according to a union spokesperson.
The company announced late Friday that it would "gradually reopen" its six order-treatment facilities in France starting on Tuesday after agreeing to work with unions on how to jointly ensure the wellbeing of the 10,000 employees at the facilities.
Amazon had closed the facilities on April 14 following a French court ruling that the company should scale back its business while it consulted with workers, or face heavy fines. An appeals court upheld the lower-court ruling on April 24, and Amazon announced on May 7 that it would appeal to the Court of Cassation, France's highest court.
With the accord announced Friday, "the company is giving up on its request" to take the case to the higher court, Laurent Degousée, a spokesperson for the union group Solidaires, said Sunday in an email to Law.com International.
The original lawsuit, brought by Solidaires and joined on appeal by the French unions CGT and CFDT, asserted that increased demand for nonessential consumer items during the coronavirus lockdown had led to unsafe conditions at Amazon facilities and that Amazon had failed to consult with worker representatives.
The accord "follows five weeks of discussions in which we have repeatedly provided clarification and information about the extensive safety measures already implemented" to "keep our employees safe," Amazon said late Friday.
Amazon employees will start coming back to work on a voluntary basis in two phases, from Monday through June 2, according to a joint statement by the three unions published on Saturday.
Timetables will be adjusted and shift times reduced without a reduction in pay to allow for social distancing, the union statement said.
Workers who do not feel comfortable coming back to work during this phase-in period can stay home on full salary until June 3, when all workers will resume their duties, the union statement said.
Amazon also agreed to consult regularly with worker representatives over health and safety and to bring in an independent expert to review the measures, the union statement said.
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