INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Amazon workers tell Bezos to ‘share the wealth’ as they stage first UK strike
Amazon workers downed tools at a warehouse in Coventry in the first ever official strike at the trillion-dollar company’s UK operation.
The warehouse has been described as a “pressure cooker” environment where some employees work up to 60 hours a week of physical labour to make ends meet.
Around 300 members of the GMB union walked out for 24 hours over pay. They are demanding a rise to £15 an hour, after receiving an increase of 50p an hour last summer, which took pay for most workers to £10.50 an hour – which from April will be on par with the new minimum wage.
The pay rise, described by workers as “pathetic” and “an insult”, sparked wildcat strikes in at least four British warehouses, including Coventry, last August.
“It comes back to Jeff Bezos. We don’t want his boats or his rockets, we just want to be able to live. He’s got to share some of that wealth,” Darren Westwood, who has worked at Amazon for three and a half years, told The Big Issue.
Amazon’s UK profits surged by 60 per cent in 2021, reaching £204 million.
After the strike, workers said they were marked as ‘no shows’ for walking out and feared fines or even being accused of gross misconduct.
Amazon denied this, saying it respected workers’ right to lawfully strike and that workers’ non-attendance was “not being considered as part of any absence review”.
THE TOP 5 STORIES ON BIGISSUE.COM LAST WEEK
Here’s when people
