David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Black Friday is only a few days away. It has become cemented as one of the premier shopping days of the year, with customers tracking down deals before the Christmas season. But, with so many Australians turning to online retailers to find deals, there is a dark side to this shopping spree.

Amazon, one of the most significant online retailers, will rake in profits from Black Friday and is not a company that embraces Australian values. The best way to describe Amazon's conduct and attitude is maximum control paired with minimum transparency. Amazon has consistently demonstrated itself to be anti-union and anti-accountability. Their corporate conduct centres on robust efforts to silence their workforce and not allow anything to get in the way of their high-volume business model. From New York to right here in Australia, Amazon refuses to bargain or acknowledge concerns. They've shut entire facilities to stop legitimate union activities. They deploy an array of intrusive and dehumanising surveillance systems that monitor every second of employee activity and stamp out any efforts to organise. This is not good enough. This Black Friday it's time to make Amazon pay.

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