Labour unrest spreading through the European economies in response to the cost-of-living crisis has hit e-commerce giant Amazon’s Coventry warehouse in the UK. Close to one-fifth of the total staff at this storehouse walked out protesting a “derisory” pay rise of 50 pence despite the company racking up huge profits. The walk-out and the picketing that followed marked the first-ever strike by unionised Amazon workers in the UK. Workers also complained about the severe working conditions at the warehouse.
Workers at the Coventry warehouse scan the stock before it is sent to Amazon fulfilment centres. Around 300 of the 1,500 staff members protested a 5 per cent pay rise, which amounted to a 50 pence increase in hourly wages outside London and South East, reported BBC. Considering the 41-year high inflation in the UK, this seems inadequate for the workers. Darren Westwood and Garfield Hilton, workers who are also a part of one of the UK’s largest unions, GMB, told the news outlet that some of their colleagues worked 60-hour weeks to keep up with the cost of living.
Westwood said that the staff “had worked two years through the pandemic, that had seen Amazon’s shares go through the roof. They had seen the profits just become unimaginable.” After that, the 50p offer was “a smack in the mouth”.
The pay rise has taken the wages to £10.50 an hour. Protestors are demanding £15. “We just want to be able to live. I just want to be able to pay my bills at the end of the week. That’s all we’re asking for,” Westwood said.
The woes did not end there. Staff said they are constantly monitored and reprimanded for any breaks, even if they last a couple of minutes. They are treated worse than the robots in the warehouse, Hilton and Westwood said. Hilton, a diabetic, said that finding toilets close by in the building is not always easy. Workers claimed that they are being questioned about even taking loo breaks.
Amazon has defended its pay rise, saying the starting pay for workers was £11.45 an hour in London and the South East, and £10.50 an hour in the rest of the UK. A spokesperson said that this is a 29 per cent increase in the minimum hourly wage the company pays since 2018.
Amazon has also actively pressed its stance against trade unions, especially in the US.
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