As Amazon readies for one of its biggest shopping days of the year, thousands of people around the world are preparing for a wave of coordinated strikes and protests in more than 30 countries.

Unions, tech workers, human-rights organisations, and environmentalist groups will demonstrate against the tech giant during Black Friday to Cyber Monday, as part of the Make Amazon Pay campaign.

The group accuses Amazon of fuelling inequality, undermining democratic rights by financing US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and driving environmental harm.

Amazon funded Trump’s inauguration — and got what it paid for: support for union busting, deregulation and the rollback of environmental protections.

Organisers say this year’s protests come at a time when Amazon’s global influence is deepening, extending far beyond retail into logistics, cloud services, policing, border enforcement and political lobbying.

“Amazon, Jeff Bezos and their political allies are betting on a techno-authoritarian future, but this Make Amazon Pay Day, workers everywhere are saying: enough,” said Christy Hoffman, the general secretary of UNI Global Union,a global union for the service industries.

“For years, Amazon has squashed workers’ right to democracy on the job through a union and the backing of authoritarian political figures. Its model is deepening inequality and undermining the fundamental rights of workers to organise, bargain collectively, and demand safe, fair workplaces,” she added.

“Amazon’s technologies are woven into systems of violence worldwide”

David Adler, a co-general coordinator of the Progressive International political organisation, said Amazon had become “a pillar of a new authoritarian order built on surveillance and exploitation”.

“From ICE raids to the repression of Palestinians, Amazon’s technologies are woven into systems of violence worldwide. But Make Amazon Pay shows that workers and communities can confront this power – and build a future based on dignity and democracy instead”.

On the ground, many workers say the company’s escalating productivity demands and harsh conditions have pushed them to breaking point.

In Manesar, India, warehouse worker Neha Singh described summer heatwaves turning the facility into “a furnace”.

“During the heatwaves, the warehouse feels like a furnace – people faint, but the targets never stop,” she said in a press release.

“Even if we fainted, we couldn’t take a day off and go home. If we took that day off, our pay would be cut, and if we took three days off, they would fire us. Amazon treats us as expendable. We are joining Make Amazon Pay to demand the most basic rights: safety, dignity, and the chance to go home alive”.

Big Tech’s impact on the planet

Environmental groups say the company’s growing political clout now poses risks beyond the workplace.

“Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is a clear-cut example of Big Tech’s expanding, destructive impact on people and the planet,” said Sanna Ghotbi, a senior campaigner at Greenpeace International.

“The Make Amazon Pay movement is letting the world know that Amazon is at the heart of the deepening alliance between Big Tech and repressive regimes.

“Billionaire-owned Big Tech companies like Amazon are an increasing risk to our rights, while they repress dissent and wreck the planet. It’s time to resist Big Tech’s overreach into our lives and to make Amazon pay!”

This year’s demonstrations will touch nearly every part of Amazon’s global empire.

In Germany, Amazon warehouse staff represented by the union ver.di are planning walkouts. Across the United States, activists will stage Cyber Monday protests targeting Amazon’s contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accusing the company of powering the agency’s surveillance systems.

In Europe, protests are planned in Denmark, Spain, Greece, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Luxembourg.

Actions are also planned in Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Nepal, Palestine, Brazil, Colombia, and South Africa.

Alongside physical protests, organisers are coordinating a series of digital and creative actions aimed at drawing attention to Amazon’s political influence, including projection stunts and online solidarity events.

Pay workers, pay taxes, pay for the damage

Campaigners argue that Amazon has become one of the central corporate forces shaping political and economic life, pointing to the company’s financial support for Trump’s inauguration and the benefits it reaped from recent corporate tax cuts.

In its latest filing, Amazon reported paying $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion) less in tax than during the same period last year.

Organisers warn that the company’s rapid investment in automation and artificial intelligence threatens to replace hundreds of thousands of jobs, while its data centres – some of the largest in the world – consume enormous quantities of water and energy.

The Make Amazon Pay coalition is demanding that workers be paid fairly, that the company pay taxes, and pay for the environmental damage caused by the company’s growth.