Amazon workers walk out over pay rise dispute
Amazon workers have staged their first ever strike in the UK in a dispute over pay, wanting a "decent standard of living", a union has said. Members of the GMB at the company's fulfilment centre in Coventry voted to walk out on Wednesday in protest at a pay rise the union said is worth 50p an hour.
Amazon has said it already offers "competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and excellent opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe and modern environment"
GMB senior organiser Stuart Richards 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."
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."
Amanda Gearing, also a GMB senior organiser, speaking from the picket line, said: "We're here today because Amazon workers have said they've had enough."
She said staff who worked through tough conditions during the pandemic are just "trying to get decent pay". "They (the centres) are pressure-cooker environments they work in, with the targets they're expected to reach," she added. "They (Amazon) just wear them out, get rid of them, replace them."
Ms Gearing added: "After all that, they have just offered a 50p pay increase in the biggest cost-of-living crisis that we've had in decades. "I think, when the workers have got nothing to lose, you see them coming out fighting." She said the striking workers are "not militant" and "need a job", adding: "Like I say, they've put up with the conditions in those centres for a long time."