Work organization and labor relations at Amazon warehouses in Brazil and Mexico: diffusion and reconstitution of global models

Scott B. Martin, Katiuscia Moreno Galhera and João Paulo Veiga

Chapter 4 in Unpacking Global Amazon, 2026, pp 86-133 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter presents a comparative case study of work organization and employment relations in the concentration of fulfillment center warehouses in municipalities in the metro regions of Mexico City and São Paulo. Amazon initiated operations and large-scale national e-commerce operations only in 2015 and 2018, respectively, in the two countries. We analyze these trends in the context of distinctive trajectories of gradual institutional change in the two countries and how they intersect with Amazon. While there are substantial similarities to the high-stress, low-skilled precarious work found in Northern Amazon warehouses, at the same time there is an element of dynamism and local reconstitution based on a new national law on subcontracting in Mexico and an innovative organizing partnership of local and international unions with some limited parallel negotiation of aspects of work schedules at the company level in Cajamar, São Paulo.

Keywords: Gradual Institutional Change; Amazon; Corporation; Work Organization; Labor Regime; Mexico; Brazil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035380442
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