Coventry Amazon staff strike for Valentine’s Day, as industrial dispute continues

Amazon workers in Coventry took part in strike action from February 13 to 15, as part of an ongoing dispute over pay, conditions, and union rights.

The strike was called by the GMB, a major UK general trade union that accepts members from a wide range of industrial sectors. It is the latest action taken by the union in a campaign seeking to secure a £15 per hour wage, and union rights at Amazon.

Coventry was the first Amazon warehouse in the UK to initiate strike action, with 300 workers first going on strike in January 2023.

The number of striking workers has grown steadily since. The GMB claimed that over 1000 Amazon workers at the company’s Coventry branch took part in this most recent strike action.

Employees at Amazon Minworth in Birmingham held their own industrial action in January 2024.

This is another pay rise of pennies, from one of the world’s wealthiest companies

Darren Westwood, Amazon Coventry worker

Workers voted to renew strike action for six more months in January of this year.

Speaking at the time, Amanda Gearing, a GMB Senior Organiser, said: “Our members have voted to back a spring offensive in their fight for £15 and union rights.”

“Amazon is running out of options; face yet more chaos, or get serious about listening to their workers’ demands.”

Responding to both public and worker concern, an Amazon spokesperson who spoke to the BBC noted that pay has increased 20% over two years, and 50% since 2018.

But workers at the Coventry site have previously shunned Amazon’s pay rises. Darren Westwood, a worker at the Coventry plant, said of one the company’s offers in March 2023 that: “This is another pay rise of pennies, from one of the world’s wealthiest companies”.

We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment, and excellent career opportunities

Amazon spokesperson

The Amazon spokesperson further insisted of the company that: “We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment, and excellent career opportunities.”

A report by the Trades Union Congress hit back at this notion, however. It argued that the company’s push to “put the customer first” had “pushed employees to extremes”.

It highlighted claims that the productivity of workers was being monitored intensely, with employees being disciplined or fired if they failed to meet targets.

GMB is not officially recognised as a union by Amazon, after the union withdrew its bid for recognition in June 2023. Union leaders accused the company of employing “dirty tricks” to ensure the union would not meet the thresholds for recognition.