Amazon UK’s first industrial action will take place this week.
The e-retail giant will be hit by striking workers at a warehouse in Coventry on Wednesday (25.01.23) amid dissatisfaction about a 50p raise to the workforce’s hourly wage, the way shift patterns are devised and micromanagement while on the floor.
Officials within the union have remarked that the Jeff Bezos-founded company - who have recently outlined plans to close three warehouses in the UK - “just blanket refuses” to engage with their demands in any way.
Stuart Richard’s, a GMB West Midland’s organiser - who represents 300 members of the 1,400 strong workforce - told the Observer newspaper: “I’ve been involved in the union now for about 25 years and I have never come across an employer that just blanket refuses to enter into any kind of engagement at all. Ultimately, the real aim is just getting one step closer to dragging Amazon bosses, kicking and screaming, to talk to us”
A member of staff recently shared how hard it was to cover the cost of living while working at Amazon unless people embarked on a 60 hour work week.
He said: “I don’t want Jeff Bezos’s boat. I definitely don’t want his rocket. But I just want to live.”
Amazon UK have responded to the news of the strike action - which is part of the demand for a new hourly wage of £15 - by pointing out it will have little consequences for daily operations, their £500 payment to workers to cover costs over Christmas.
Despite this, the action represents a milestone for labour relations in the company. The Coventry workers intending on taking action have been supported by some of their American counterparts as Derrick Palmer, the vice-president of the US Amazon Labor Union - which was the first recognised union within Amazon - has backed the move.
