Amazon workers at UK warehouse to strike during Prime Day event
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Demonstrators at an Amazon workers' rally outside the Amazon warehouse in Coventry, Britain, in January.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
BENGALURU – Nearly 900 Amazon workers at a warehouse in Britain will stage a strike for three days this week over a pay dispute, labour union GMB said on Saturday.
The strike will take place from Tuesday to Thursday at Amazon’s warehouse in Coventry, for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening on the three days, GMB said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters. It coincides with a Prime Day sales event the company has announced for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“GMB members in Coventry have time and time again shown that this fight will only end with £15 (S$30) an hour and union rights,” GMB senior organiser Rachel Fagan said.
Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, said the minimum starting pay for its employees is £11 to £12 an hour, depending on the location.
The Coventry site does not directly serve customer orders and there will be no disruption to customers, Amazon told Reuters in an e-mail.
In June, the union said the Coventry warehouse workers had voted for six more months of strikes. The workers also went on strike from June 12 to 14.
Amazon is expected to record about US$7 billion (S$9.4 billion) in revenue from its Prime Day sales, an increase of 12 per cent from what was disclosed for Prime Day during the third quarter in 2022, according to J.P. Morgan.
Strikes have been called in several industries in Britain in recent months, including by nurses, teachers and transport workers in response to inflationary pressures.
On Thursday, trade union RMT said staff of the London Underground will strike from July 23 to 28 in a long-running dispute over pensions, job cuts and working conditions. REUTERS
