Amazon UK workers’ strike continues – and there’s no end in sight
Amazon workers are taking part in fresh strikes at a warehouse in Coventry in an ongoing dispute with the tech giant – which doesn’t recognise the union – over pay.
GMB members are downing tools for three days from 16 to 18 April as they call for hourly pay to rise to £15. The union has also announced that members will strike between 21 and 23 April.
Amazon workers at the Coventry Fulfilment Centre who are part of GMB made history in January when they became the first Amazon workers in the UK to take part in strike action against a 50 pence per hour pay rise offered by the company.
Of the newish wage of £10.15 an hour, Amanda Gearing, senior organiser at GMB, told CityAM “People just can’t live on it.”
“[Workers] can’t pay their bills, a lot of them are using food banks, and they’re worried about being evicted.”
Members previously took strike action across February and March. Monday marks the 10th day of industrial action at the warehouse. There are now 600 members at the warehouse, up from 300 members when a consultative ballot took place last September, according to GMB.
“We had about 150 workers turn up on the picket line today. That’s how determined they are that Amazon should hear what they’re saying,” Gearing told CityAM
Amazon said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages, and recently announced another increase for our UK teams. Over the past seven months, our minimum pay has risen by 10 per cent and by more than 37 per cent since 2018.”
“We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities. These are just some of the reasons people want to come and work at Amazon, whether it’s their first job, a seasonal role or an opportunity for them to advance their career,” the statement added.
The company does not recognise the GMB union. The union is also balloting members at five other sites, including in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire.
Gearing added that the union’s next step is to apply to the UK’s Central Arbitration Committee — which oversees workplace disputes — for official recognition from Amazon if half of the Coventry warehouse’s 1300 workers joined the union.
“We will continue to strike until such a day that they do agree to sit down and talk pay with us,” she said.