Trade union Verdi is calling on workers at Amazon's logistics centre in Leipzig to stop working from 0430GMT, it said, after 600 workers at its facilities in Bad Hersfeld and around 300 in Leipzig went on strike on May 14. Amazon employs around 9,000 people in Germany. Verdi is furious that the outfit is refusing to implement a collective agreement on employment conditions similar to deals at other mail order and retail firms.

Verdu wants Amazon to give its workers higher basic pay and bigger supplements for night shifts. In Leipzig wants a starting pay of $14 per hour, compared with 9.30 euros now. Amazon said its workers' earn more than what most logistics companies pay in Germany. It said that it was willing to continue talks with Verdi but did not see a common basis for negotiations for now.