...“People kept coming to work feeling worried about being exposed to a mortal danger,” said Mr. Bérot, 50, who works at a warehouse south of Paris...Mr. Bérot’s union successfully sued Amazon last month, in what has become the most prominent labor showdown the retailer has faced since the coronavirus outbreak...The case, now headed to the French supreme court, tests Amazon’s ability to sidestep the demands of workers who are fulfilling the surge in orders...Unions in the United States have made few inroads after years of campaigns. But in Europe, national labor laws require companies to deal with them, even if employees aren’t members...

Amazon defended its response to the virus, saying it had put in place more than 150 changes at its warehouses, including providing masks, temperature checks, hand sanitizer, increased time off and higher pay...Amazon has not disclosed how many warehouse workers have contracted Covid-19 in Europe, but cases have been reported in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain...In Germany...Amazon is entangled in a seven-year battle against one of the country’s largest unions, Ver.di, which has fought to negotiate a collective-bargaining agreement...

As its legal battle in France drags on, Amazon is tapping its warehouses in Germany, Italy and Poland to fill orders by French consumers, minimizing the fallout from the dispute...The episodes in Europe show Amazon will work with unions when required by law, said Virginia Doellgast, an associate professor at Cornell University who studies international labor. “They cooperate where they have to,” she said...