"‘I am not a robot’: Why Amazon UK workers are striking on Prime Day", 11 July 2023

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About 900 workers at the Coventry warehouse are taking three days of strike action from 11 July to 13 July, coinciding with its Prime Day sales event on Tuesday and Wednesday...

The latest industrial action will bring the total strike days at Amazon to 22 since January...

Meanwhile, strikes are also taking place this week in Germany, where the country’s second largest union, ver.di, has organised action at 10 distribution centres. Here is what you need to know about the disagreement...

Workers have launched strike action against Amazon in a standoff over pay, conditions and the company’s failure to recognise union rights.

Amazon employees are paid a minimum of £11 an hour and are requesting a pay rise to £15. The national minimum wage for people aged over 23 is £10.42 per-hour.

The conflict was sparked by Amazon’s offer of a 50p an hour increase in pay in the summer of 2022, which angered workers who have complained of a high-pressure working environment – exacerbated by online orders surging during the Covid pandemic.

Speaking outside GMB’s annual congress in Brighton last month, Garfield Hylton, who works at Coventry said: “They can monitor you, per minute, per task – it’s micromanagement...

The union has been engaged in a battle to represent Amazon workers in Coventry and has slowly grown its membership at the site from a handful of people to about 900.

GMB estimated there were about 1,400 workers at the depot – meaning its membership was above the statutory threshold of 50% for union recognition.

But Amazon argued that there were closer to 2,700 employees at the site and the union reluctantly withdrew its attempt to win formal recognition, accusing the firm of drafting in more than 1,000 extra workers to skew the decision.

The union accused the online retailer of “dirty tricks”. Amazon said in response: “We regularly recruit new team members.”...

[Rachel Fagan emphatically, the GMB union’s Midlands regional organiser] says: “This strike action will have a huge impact on Amazon’s Prime operation. It goes to show that even Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, is nothing without its workers.”...

“It’s grotesque that in this context they’re denying low paid workers here in the UK the right to a wage that pays the bills … you can’t get human beings on the cheap,”...

A spokesperson for [Amazon] said: “We offer competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe, modern, work environment.”

It also said that workers could “communicate directly with the leadership of the company”...