Black Friday: Amazon hubs in Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Tilbury blocked by Extinction Rebellion
Extinction Rebellion protesters have blockaded distribution centres belonging to online retail giant Amazon to disrupt its operations on Black Friday.
The environmental campaign group has set up protests at 13 centres across the country, including Milton Keynes, Tilbury and Peterborough in the East of England.
Demonstrators with placards and banners have set up camp at the entrance to the hubs, stopping lorries from entering the sites. At Peterborough, they arrived at 4am, built a bamboo structure in the road and have locked themselves together to prevent security from breaking them up.
The group said it wanted to draw attention to Amazon's "exploitative and environmentally destructive business practices, disregard for workers' rights in the name of company profits, as well as the wastefulness of Black Friday".
Black Friday is the retailer's busiest trading day of the year.
Outside the Peterborough distribution centre, protester Peach Rose said the aim was to make people think about their support of Amazon.
"We want to stop these deliveries going out on Black Friday, one of the biggest days of the year for them," she said. "We want to make that point so that people notice, so that people think about it, but also to cause that disruption to them and their business."
She said Amazon was "complicit in the climate chaos" and called on customers to consider cancelling their Prime memberships in support.
Ms Rose claimed that Amazon workers leaving the site had thanked her and her fellow protesters for their stance, adding: "I've experienced that quite a few times on recent protests."
A spokesman for Extinction Rebellion said the protesters were teaming up with activists and workers from the global Make Amazon Pay campaign "demanding better working conditions, clear environmental commitments, and for Amazon to pay their fair share of tax".
Amazon said in 2019 it hoped to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, but Extinction Rebellion said no evidence has been given to show how this will be achieved.
There were also protests in the US, Germany and the Netherlands.
'There is always more to do' - Amazon
An Amazon spokesperson said it took its "responsibilities very seriously".
"That includes our commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040 - 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement - providing excellent pay and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, and supporting the tens of thousands of British small businesses who sell on our store.
"We know there is always more to do, and we'll continue to invent and invest on behalf of our employees, customers, small businesses and communities in the UK."
The spokesman said Amazon had invested £32bn in the UK since 2010, creating 10,000 new permanent jobs this year and "generating a total UK tax contribution of £1.55bn in 2020".
Earlier this year in July, ITV News revealed Amazon routinely destroys millions of items of unsold stock every year.