Hundreds of Amazon workers in Coventry walkout for three day strike

2023-04-16

Hundreds of Amazon workers in Coventry walkout as they begin three day strike in row over pay

The GMB union said six-hundred members walked out at 06:30 BST today
Members of the union are asking for a pay rise from £10.50 to £15 an hour

Hundreds of Amazon workers in Coventry have embarked on a three-day strike in a dispute over pay.

The GMB union said 600 members walked out at 06:30am this morning, and will not return until Tuesday – with further action set to happen from April 21 to 23.

According to the BBC, members are asking for a pay rise from £10.50 to £15 an hour, but the union is not recognised by the US firm.

Amazon previously said that minimum pay had risen by 10 per cent and by more than 37 per cent since 2018.

An Amazon spokesperson claimed the retailer carried out regular reviews of its pay to make sure they offer ‘competitive wages’.

Amazon workers joined the picket line today, with GMB representative Amanda Gearing taking part

The GMB union said 600 members in Coventry walked out at 06:30am, and will not return until Tuesday – with further action set to take place from April 21 to 23

Regional Organiser for GMB Stuart Perry (right) tweeted: ‘Another amazing day had on the picket line outside Amazon Coventry’

They added that only a ‘tiny proportion’ of its workforce in Coventry was involved in the dispute.

More than 100 union members were believed to have joined the picket line outside the Amazon warehouse in Coventry on Sunday, according to GMB representatives.

Amanda Gearing, GMB senior organiser, said GMB members ‘will not accept a pay rise of pennies from one of the world’s wealthiest corporations’.

In March, defiant workers at an Amazon depot in Coventry staged a five-day strike.

More than 100 union members were believed to have joined the picket line outside the Amazon warehouse in Coventry on Sunday, according to GMB representatives

Amazon previously said that minimum pay had risen by 10 per cent and by more than 37 per cent since 2018

Workers with GMB Union previously walked out on February 28 and March 2 after voting to strike in an industrial ballot last December.

Workers also became the first ever UK employees of the online giant to take strike action on January 25, earning praise from Labour’s Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana who said they were ‘making history’.

GMB Union estimated that the industrial action would cost Amazon more than £2 million.

Amazon is the world’s second largest retailer after Walmart.

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