Amazon UK may have to recognize the first union

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By Zoe Conway, recruitment reporter

1 hour ago

Amazon may soon have to recognize a trade union in the UK for the first time.

The GMB union says it has registered the majority of workers at the Amazon Coventry warehouse, which qualifies them for recognition under the law.

He has written to the company seeking recognition.

Amazon says it “respects the rights of its employees to choose whether or not to join a labor union.”

GMB believes it is on the cusp of historic victory after a decade of trying.

If successful, that would mean Amazon would have to negotiate with workers about their pay, vacation, and sick pay.

Amazon has 10 days to respond.

She said she regularly reviews salaries, and that the starting wage was between £11 and £12 an hour.

“Over the past seven months, our minimum wage has increased by 10% and more than 37% since 2018,” she added.

The union estimates there are 1,300 workers at Amazon’s distribution center in Coventry. She says the majority – nearly 700 – have joined the GMB and says this means they have met the threshold for legal recognition.

Warehouse worker Darren Westwood, who has been at the forefront of people joining the union, says it’s “great” that the recognition is so soon.

He said, “It’s very exciting because we acquired one of the largest companies in the world and won.”

No humanity

If Amazon does not grant recognition, the body responsible for resolving recognition disputes, the Central Arbitration Panel, may be asked to intervene.

The CAC can automatically grant recognition if it is satisfied that the majority of the workforce wants the union to represent it. The workforce may be asked to vote to show their support for this.

Workers at the Coventry warehouse first started protesting their pay last August – when only 30 of them were GMB members. They staged their first ever strike on Amazon UK in January.

Since then, the company has raised the minimum starting wage to between £11 and £12 per hour, depending on location. The union demands an hourly wage of £15 an hour.

But the feud has always been about more than money. Westwood said a union was needed because “it sometimes seems as if the administration has no humanity”.

He said having a union was “about having this person on your side. It’s about protection in your back pocket”.

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