Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As Black Friday approaches, Australians are preparing to shop for bargains. Yet, for too many Amazon workers, the real cost of these deals comes in the form of exhaustion, job insecurity and enforced silence. Globally, Amazon has built an empire on convenience, too often sacrificing fairness along the way. Their record speaks for itself. From refusing to engage in good-faith bargaining at its Staten Island warehouse to shutting down all seven of its Quebec warehouses the moment workers wanted union recognition, time and time again Amazon's conduct reveals a consistent and deliberate disregard for workers' rights.

Here in Australia, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association and the Transport Workers' Union have been at the forefront of the Make Amazon Pay campaign. Together they organised nationwide rallies that united hundreds of workers and supporters demanding fair pay, safer working conditions and respect for workers' rights.

Yet, while exploiting workers, Amazon also exploits our taxation system. Despite earning over $3 billion in Australia last financial year, they paid less than one per cent in tax. No corporation should be able to silence workers or shrink their contributions to society. It's time we stood together and made Amazon pay.