Amazon to shut French centres for five days over virus ruling

1970-01-01T05:30:00+0530Paris, Apr 15 (AFP) Online retailer Amazon said on Wednesday it would close its French distribution centres for five days after a court ordered it to evaluate measures taken to protect workers from coronavirus. The firm promised to appeal against Tuesday''s court ruling, which limited the tech giant to delivering only essential goods while it evaluates the risk of workers being exposed to coronavirus. The court said Amazon France had "failed to recognise its obligations regarding the security and health of its workers" and gave it a month to carry out the evaluation. The firm said the ruling left it "perplexed" saying it had given the court evidence about temperature checks, physical distancing orders and use of personal protective equipment. Amazon France''s biggest labour union, the SUD, took the company to court saying workers were being forced to work in close proximity. The SUD welcomed the site closures and its representative Laurent Degousee told AFP that the union would watch carefully to make sure employees were properly paid. "Currently, we are continuing to operate in the country and doing everything possible to maintain the level of service," the company said in a statement in French. "However, without the possibility to use our distribution centres in France, we will be forced to restrict a service which has become essential for millions of people across the country which want access to products that they need during the crisis." The company said it had delivered more than 127,000 packets of disinfectant wipes, 27,000 litres of sanitising hand gel and 1.5 million masks. Amazon, which in February employed 6,500 permanent staff and 3,600 temporary employees at six French sites, insisted it was properly respecting safety standards.