Coventry Amazon workers narrowly vote against union recognition

Employees at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have voted down the chance for union recognition. This historic motion would have seen the company recognise a union in the UK for the first time.

They narrowly lost the majority needed to confirm recognition, falling short by just 28 votes

The GMB is one of the largest and oldest general trade unions in the UK, with over 560,000 members. They narrowly lost the majority needed to confirm recognition, falling short by just 28 votes.

49.5% of workers balloted in favour, with a majority voting against. 

The move would have seen the GMB given the right to represent them in negotiations with bosses over pay and conditions.

It will be another three years before GMB can reapply for statutory recognition.

The GMB condemned Amazon for what they described as  “union-busting”, legally challenging the US company after they used tactics to create: “A culture of fear for low-paid workers trying to improve their pay, terms, and conditions.”

These tactics included pressuring workers to cancel their GMB memberships and hosting anti-union seminars.

Amazon responded to the result with a statement describing the “enormous value” they take in “engaging directly with our employees and having daily conversations with them.”

They suggested they “invest heavily in great pay, benefits, and skills development”.

It comes after a period of complicated relations between Amazon and their Coventry workers, who made history in January last year when they staged the first-ever Amazon strike in the UK.

GMB Senior Organiser, Amanda Gearing, described the courage of the workers at the time.

People working for one of the most valuable companies in the world shouldn’t have to threaten strike action just to win a wage they can live on

– Amanda Gearing, GMB Senior Organiser

Gearing added: “People working for one of the most valuable companies in the world shouldn’t have to threaten strike action just to win a wage they can live on.”

Since then, workers in Birmingham have also taken to the picket line, joining the Coventry workers in calling for a wage increase to £15 an hour and protected union rights.

Amazon continues to defend its resistance to this demand by arguing that the rise in minimum pay in April this year marks a 20% increase over two years. 

Since 2022, strikers have achieved an overall pay rise of 17% for the lowest-paid workers, but cite the challenging conditions of the job as reasoning for their demands.

The GMB, however, insists that the war is very much ongoing. Gearing described that: “The fire lit by workers in Coventry and across the UK is still burning.”

They will no doubt take solace in the fact that promises were made in the recent King’s Speech to lower the threshold needed to achieve union recognition, raising hopes that another ballot may occur sooner rather than later.