UNI Europa calls on the EU to end Amazon Public Procurement Contracts as EU-US trade war escalates
European service workers trade union federation, UNI Europa, is calling on the EU to reassess the public procurement contracts that it has with US based companies in general, and Amazon web services in particular.
In light of the escalating transatlantic tensions between the United States and the European Union, UNI Europa is raising the alarm on the need for the EU to reduce its dependence on US-based companies, arguing that the EU must “safeguard its economic sovereignty, democratic values and workers’ rights.”
UNI Europa’s call comes as US big-tech leaders are showing a worrisome submission to the Trump administration. Several big-tech company heads have made large donations to Trump’s inaugural fund and have shown an ideological alignment with the Trump administration, despite its turn towards authoritarianism and concerns raised by human rights organizations the world over.
The question arises: will the European Union once again bend its knee at the whim of the US big tech oligopoly, or is it finally time for the EU to develop an ambitious strategy in line with the bloc’s professed values?
Billions of Euros in public procurement contracts
The press release draws on research, previously conducted by UNI Europa, that found that Amazon received over €1.3 billion in public contracts within Europe between 2019 and 2021. This is in addition to the near €30 million in public contracts with various EU directorate-Generals.
The overwhelming majority of public contracts were awarded to Amazon Web Services - an Amazon subsidiarity that provides cloud-computing and data hosting services. UNI Europa called attention to the security risk that hosting sensitive European data on Amazon servers poses - especially considering the Trump administration's hostility to the EU and Amazon’s deep entanglement with the US national security apparatus.
UNI Europa argued that:
“[Amazon Web Services] is a key contractor for the US government, including intelligence agencies, and we have no reason to trust that sensitive European information stored on Amazon’s servers would be shielded from American political or security interests.”
A documented history of violating Europe’s social model
Amazon has a documented history of committing labour abuses, systematically fighting unionisation, and refusing to participate in collective bargaining. This is a clear affront to the values enshrined in the European Union’s Pillar of Social Rights, which explicitly calls for social dialogue and the involvement of workers in decision making.
Investigations have documented severe labour violations across Amazon’s operations, including the use of extensive worker surveillance tools within its warehouses.
Last year, the European Parliament voted to ban Amazon lobbyists from entering its premises as a result of the company’s unwillingness to participate in meetings requested by the European Parliament, further highlighting the company’s systematic refusal to work constructively with EU lawmakers.
UNI Europa ends with the following demands:
Conduct a thorough review of existing and planned public contracts with AWS.
Consider the company’s record on labour rights as a critical criterion in the award and continuation of such contracts.
Guarantee that companies refusing to negotiate or implement collective agreements are excluded from public contracts.
Explore the use of existing regulatory tools to ensure that public funds are not awarded to companies undermining core EU values.
The full link to the press release can be found by clicking here.
Finding and developing alternatives to the US big tech oligopoly will not be an easy task - but will be an assessment on whether or not the EU is willing to defend the values that it claims to represent and secure a future for its residents.