Amazon workers to stage week-long strike over pay

Amazon warehouse workers are to stage a week-long strike over pay, the longest run of industrial action by the company’s staff in the UK to date. 

Staff at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse are planning to walk out for five consecutive days next month between March 13 and 17, as well as on February 28 and March 2. 

The five-day stretch will be the longest strike action by Amazon’s UK workers to date, amid growing tensions with bosses at the retail giant. More than 350 staff are due to take part in the strikes, union GMB said. 

GMB senior organiser Amanda Gearing said: “Amazon bosses can stop this industrial action by doing the right thing and negotiating a proper pay rise with workers.”

The row centres around Amazon offering staff a 50p per hour pay rise to a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour. GMB has said workers should be paid £15 per hour. The National Living Wage, which is mandated by the Government, is due to increase to £10.42 per hour from April.

Ms Gearing said staff “work for one of the richest companies in the world, yet they have to work round the clock to keep themselves afloat”. The warehouse provides stock to other Amazon fulfilment centres, rather than directly to customers, and so the strikes are not expected to hit deliveries. 

Workers at the Coventry site staged the first UK strike at an Amazon facility last month amid claims that staff are “treated like robots”.

The industrial action came after earlier unofficial “wildcat” strikes, including a “go slow” protest and a sit-in. Workers in the US have been more active in organising action against the company. At one of Amazon’s sites in Staten Island, New York, staff ultimately managed to successfully form a union, despite anti-unionisation efforts by the US tech giant. 

Last year up to 1,500 staff at Amazon’s Tilbury warehouse in Essex gathered in their canteen to protest against a proposed pay rise in response to soaring inflation. 

Frustration over stagnating wages is something which has rippled across the UK over the past year, prompting a spate of strikes, with workers at Royal Mail, rail companies, bus operators and nurses having all staged walkouts in recent months.

Amazon announced last month that it was closing three UK warehouses, putting 1,200 jobs at risk. 

The Telegraph also recently revealed that Amazon is planning to sublet some of its empty warehouse space in the UK, including one site which had been expected to become a parcel distribution hub. The US retail giant has been expanding rapidly since the pandemic hit, and more shoppers were forced online. However, demand from shoppers for online orders has taken a hit in recent months, with 2022 having been the toughest year for many ecommerce companies on record.

A spokesman for Amazon said: “A tiny proportion of our workforce is involved. In fact, according to the verified figures, only a fraction of 1pc of our UK employees voted in the ballot – and that includes those who voted against industrial action.

“We appreciate the great work our teams do throughout the year and we’re proud to offer competitive pay which starts at a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location. This represents a 29pc increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018.

“Employees are also offered comprehensive benefits that are worth thousands more—including private medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and an employee discount, to name a few.”