Three days of strikes by union members at five of Amazon’s warehouses in Germany ended on Wednesday without the company agreeing to wage talks or reporting any serious disruption to scheduled deliveries.
‘‘As long as Amazon categorically refuses to take part in wage talks, workers will keep up the pressure,’’ said Stefanie Nutzenberger, a spokeswoman for Ver.di, the service and retail workers’ union behind the strike. ‘‘New strikes can be called at any time.’’
Exactly how many workers participated in the work stoppages, which began with the early shift on Monday at four of Amazon’s shipping centers and expanded to include another of the company’s nine locations in Germany, was a point of dispute between the two sides.
Ver.di said that around 2,000 people had walked off their jobs during the first two days, based on the number of people who had signed up for strike pay. More people took part on Wednesday, Ver.di said, but it did not provide exact figures.
But Amazon insisted the numbers were much smaller and posted snapshots on its logistics blog of smiling workers processing orders in its warehouses in Bad Hersfeld, Graben and Rheinberg.
‘‘We accurately count the employees that badge in every day, and our figure of approximately 1,300 is accurate,” said Anette Nachbar, a spokeswoman for Amazon in Germany.
Amazon, based in Seattle, Wash., classifies itself as a logistics company, contending that the bulk of its 9,000 German employees are typical of the logistics sector, for which it says its wages are highly competitive. But Ver.di is trying to force Amazon to recognize itself as a retailer and set wages through collective bargaining as required by law.
Amazon has become the latest symbol of a form of American capitalism that many Germans fear threatens their economy, which seeks a balance between managers and workers. But supporters argue that the company’s policy of putting the customer first has filled a vacuum left by the general lack of service offered by German retailers.