On Sunday 16 April, ‘hundreds’ of Amazon employees at the company’s Coventry fulfilment centre walked out as part of a strike organised by trade union GMB over pay disputes.
The union recently announced six days of strike action in April, with the first strike coming to an end on 18 April and the second taking place on 21-23 April.
In January, staff at the Coventry facility became the first Amazon workers in the UK to strike. If all planned strike days go ahead, 23 April will mark the 14th day of industrial action at the site so far this year.
GMB members in Coventry are demanding a £15 hourly rate. This follows the announcement in March that the minimum pay at Amazon would be increased by 50p from £10.50 to £11.00 – an increase that the union described as “an insult”. Amanda Gearing, GMB Senior Organiser, said: “It’s sickening that Amazon workers in Coventry will earn just 8 pence above the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in April 2023.”
When this increase was announced, an Amazon spokesperson said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages, and we’re pleased to be announcing another increase for our UK operations teams.”
