Amazon workers at a Coventry warehouse will become the first in the UK to take formal strike action, in action organised by the GMB Union.
Hundreds of workers have voted to walk out in anger over the company’s 50 pence per hour pay offer.
The ballot closed 16 December 2022 – a majority of more than 98 per cent of workers voted to strike on a turnout of more than 63 per cent.
Any industrial action is likely to take place in the new year.
– GMB
Amazon pay rates vary from £10.50 to £11.45, with the latest rise Amazon say that this represents a 29 per cent increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018. Amazon have also announced that full-time, part-time and seasonal frontline employees will receive an additional one-time special payment of up to £500 as an extra thank you.
The GMB say that workers want a pay rise in the region of 50%, taking pay to around £15 an hour.
Amazon workers in Coventry have made history – they will be the first ever in the UK to take part in a formal strike.
They should be applauded for their grit and determination – fighting for what’s right in the face of an appallingly hostile environment.
The fact that they are being forced to go on strike to win a decent rate of pay from one of the world’s most valuable companies should be a badge of shame for Amazon
Amazon can afford to do better. It’s not too late to avoid strike action; get round the table with GMB to improve the pay and conditions of workers
– Amanda Gearing, Senior Organiser, GMB
2 Responses
Hard to understand the thought process of these strikers.
Its a unskilled job that pays over the minimum wage with decent bonuses in a area where most of them will be unable to find another job, let alone earn £15 a hour.
And they’re trying to strongarm a company that has enough spare capacity to take that centre out of the network for a few days, months or even close it completely if they need to.