France Orders Amazon To Deliver Essential Items Only

The French arm of Amazon has been ordered to limit its deliveries to essential goods only.

A court in Nanterre issued the ruling, specifying that within France the company should be delivering only food, hygiene and medical products.

The move comes amid claims that the delivery giant is neglecting to protect its staff from coronavirus.

Trade union group Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques (Sud) took the French division of Amazon to court, claiming that more than 100 workers were being forced to work in close proximity to one another.

Labour inspectors also called for Amazon to improve working conditions on five of its sites.

If the court's ruling is not met within 24 hours, Amazon could face a penalty of 1 million euros ($1.1 million) for each day of delay.

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Amazon has not yet commented on the ruling but has previously stated that it strictly enforces social distancing rules in its warehouses.

This isn't the first time Amazon has come under fire for its workplace conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

In March, the firm fired a New York warehouse worker who organised a protest over the safety procedures taken by Amazon to deal with Covid-19.

The incident prompted an investigation into whether the action violated worker rights.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Amazon "hired thousands of extra staff worldwide as business booms in countries where shops have closed and lockdowns have been imposed."

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Could we see an order like the one in France issued to Amazon UK?

Currently, the UK wing of Amazon is continuing to process orders but delivery times are likely to be longer.

With so many companies and business closed, some items may be in short supply. Many customers are tweeting about 3 and 4-week delays to deliveries.

Amazon said in a statement: "To serve our customers while also helping to ensure the safety of our associates, we've changed our logistics, transportation, supply chain, purchasing, and third-party seller processes to prioritise stocking and delivering items that are a higher priority for our customers."

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"This has resulted in some of our delivery promises being longer than usual."

Amazon has confirmed that its workers are currently prioritising the delivery of items such as "food, health and personal care products, books and items needed to work from home" needed by customers who may not be able to leave their house to visit a supermarket.

In short, you should be able to get hold of a box of nappies or a new laptop stand (albeit with a longer wait time!) but the giant paddling pool might have to wait.

Topics: News, Coronavirus, Amazon

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

Mary-Jane Wiltsher is a freelance lifestyle and culture journalist. Elsewhere she writes for Stylist, Euronews, PHOENIX and What We Seee.