Amazon workers in the UK are taking industrial action today for the first time since the online giant entered the country.
About 300 staff out of just over 1,000 at a fulfilment centre in Coventry have joined the strike called by the GMB union in protest over the company’s 50 pence per hour pay increase offer. This left hourly wages at £10.50, a sum the union argues lags behind the rates on offer for warehouse workers at other retailers such as Aldi.
While the strike is expected to have little impact on the company’s operations, it marks a breakthrough for the union movement and comes after growing pressure in recent years over workers’ rights.
Stuart Richards, GMB Senior Organiser, said: “Today, Amazon workers in Coventry will make history. They’ve defied the odds to become the first-ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike.
“They’re taking on one of the world’s biggest companies to fight for a decent standard of living. They should be rightly proud of themselves.”
He added: “After six months of ignoring all requests to listen to workers’ concerns, GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to do the right thing and give workers a proper pay rise.”
In response, Amazon noted that a “tiny proportion” of its UK workforce had voted in the strike ballot. It highlighted that the minimum hourly rate paid to UK employees had risen 29% since 2018 and other benefits were worth “thousands more”.
The GMB has been calling on Amazon to raise wages to £15 an hour, which the union says would match rates paid in the company’s US operations, where it has also faced a wave of protests over pay and conditions.
The call on Amazon to raise salaries comes as the business seeks to cut costs as demand for its services weakens post-pandemic and economic conditions worsen. It plans to eliminate 18,000 jobs from its global corporate workforce, having gone on a hiring spree during the Covid crisis. And earlier this month, the company announced that it plans to shut three of its 30-plus warehouses in the UK, putting up to 1,200 jobs at risk.
NAM Implications:
- First in many ways…
- …and now Amazon’s first UK strike.
- Much depends on whether Amazon takes this on the chin…
- …or adds it to its profit issues and cuts accordingly.
- Will probably result in Amazon basing more on profitability.
