A few hundred Amazon warehouse workers in the United Kingdom (UK) walked out on Wednesday (January 25) over a 5% salary raise, which is less than half the current inflation rate. This is the company’s first strike in the United Kingdom. The warehouse is in Coventry, England, and the workers there held a banner that read, “We are not robots,” and another that read, “We are worth more.” According to Stuart Richards of the GMB union, “the first-ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike” are “taking on one of the world’s largest firms to fight for a fair standard of living,” according to news agency AFP.
Richards stated that after six months of refusing all pleas to listen to workers’ complaints, the GMB union encouraged Amazon UK executives to do the right thing and grant workers a reasonable pay boost. Richards told the news agency Reuters “So the Amazon worker’s pay demand is £15 an hour, again we’ve taken that from what’s happening in America. We saw Amazon talking around trying to persuade workers that they didn’t need a union because they were paying $15 an hour. They’ve now raised that to $18 meanwhile workers in the UK are lagging far behind. They’re on £10.50 at this warehouse at the moment.”
Richards stated that warehouse workers in the United Kingdom
Richards stated that warehouse workers in the United Kingdom were working extremely long shifts just to make ends meet and feed their families. He went on to say that Amazon was a multibillion-pound firm that made a lot of money. “They may not pay any tax but they certainly make a lot of money and it’s on the back of these workers. We’re saying a part of that profit needs to go to support these workers, so they can actually live decent lives,” he said.
Another union spokeswoman, Amanda Gearing, told AFP on Wednesday that warehouse employees were also protesting “other conditions,” which she described as horrible. “They’re just having to work, work, work, they’re not allowed to talk to people, it’s difficult to take a toilet break,” she said.
This strike in the UK comes as tens of thousands of workers in the country
This strike in the UK comes as tens of thousands of workers in the country, including nurses, ambulance drivers, teachers, and railway workers, have been protesting salary and working conditions. Thousands of ambulance workers in the country went on strike again on Monday (January 23), with unions urging the government to hold negotiations to improve wages and working conditions. Previously, ambulance personnel went on strike on January 11 and December 21, 2022. In February, more strikes are expected.
