Amazon faces fresh industrial action in the UK, after members of the GMB union at a new fulfilment centre in Birmingham voted to strike over pay and conditions later this month.
The GMB says “up to 100” workers will take part in the strike at the warehouse, which opened in October – a small fraction of the total workforce – but it hopes to use the action to boost the profile of the dispute and recruit more supporters.
GMB members at the site have chosen 25 January as their first strike day, exactly one year after a stoppage by workers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse, in what was the first action of its kind against the company in the UK.
Rachel Fagan, a local GMB organiser, said: “The industrial chaos Amazon faces isn’t going to disappear; it’s growing every day. One year on from the first strike day the message from GMB members at Amazon is the same: recognise our union and end poverty pay.”
Membership in Coventry has increased significantly since that first strike, to more than 1,200, according to the GMB, which has also secured a mandate for industrial action at a site in Rugeley, Staffordshire.
The GMB had hoped to win formal recognition in Coventry, but withdrew its application after the regulator, the central arbitration committee, backed Amazon’s claim that the workforce had swelled to 2,700. At the time, the union accused Amazon of drafting in more than 1,000 new workers to skew the decision. The company insisted any new recruitment was due to the demands of the business.
Amazon staff in Coventry have taken 28 days of industrial action since the start of last year, culminating in a Black Friday rally in November at which they were joined by fellow Amazon workers from Italy, Germany and the US.
The basic rate of pay has increased several times over that period and is due to rise to £12.30 an hour in April, although that falls well short of the £15 an hour the strikers are demanding.
Amazon denies the increases have any link with the industrial action, insisting it has always reviewed pay regularly.
An Amazon spokesperson said: “Just 19 GMB members out of our 2,000 Sutton Coldfield fulfilment centre colleagues have voted in favour of industrial action. It will cause zero disruption for our customers.
“We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages and benefits. We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities.”
