On Wednesday, Amazon employees in
the UK are going on strike for the first time in protest of low pay.
According to the GMB union, a
"derisory" five percent pay increase to £10.50 an hour led to the
walkout of approximately 300 employees at Amazon's Coventry warehouse.
The workers told the BBC about
"severe" conditions, saying that they are constantly watched and
criticized for "idle time," which only lasts a few minutes.
According to Amazon, its system
"recognizes great performance."
It also "encourages coaching
to help employees improve if they are not meeting their performance
goals," according to a spokesperson.
Two members of the GMB at Amazon
stated that the robots in the warehouse "are treated better than us."
The BBC heard from Darren
Westwood and Garfield Hilton about how even going to the bathroom can get
managers to ask questions.
Mr. Hilton stated, "The
problem with stopping work is that they want to know why." They can
therefore see it on the system if the time is greater than a few minutes."
"They will question
you" Mr. Hilton, who has diabetes, stated that it is not always possible
to locate nearby restrooms in the building and that finding one and returning
can sometimes take up to 15 minutes.
"After that, they'll ask
you, 'What were you doing?'"
The men claimed that managers
monitor employee performance and accumulate time spent scanning items.
Stock is scanned by workers at
the Coventry warehouse before being sent to Amazon fulfillment centers to be
shipped to customers.
Workers might be asked to handle
pallets rather than scan them." According to Mr. Westwood, "so when
there are issues with a pallet or a box, that time will accumulate."
"Technically, it might take
an additional 30 minutes. [ "You've had 34 minutes of idle time during
today," the managers will say when they come down. What had you been up
to?"
A representative for Amazon
stated, An employee's performance is only evaluated when they are logged in to
their workstation and performing their duties.
"The performance management
tool is paused if an employee logs out, which they can do at any time,"
the statement reads.
However, Mr. Westwood and Mr.
Hilton stated that some employees were working 60-hour weeks in order to keep
up with the cost of living.
Mr. Hilton stated that he has
observed workers falling asleep on the brief bus ride to Amazon's warehouse.
"Amazon will eliminate 18,000 jobs as it reduces costs. A new Amazon
center would create 1,400 jobs." There are a lot of them in the building,
almost like ghosts."
He stated that Amazon wants to
maximize "every minute in that building."
"You have to look at it this
way: you are not making money if the product box is not moving. Amazon is this.
A box that has a problem is a loss maker. The box is making money if it leaves
a building.
Outside of London and the South
East, Amazon offered UK workers a 5% pay increase in August.
The inflation rate, or the rate
at which prices rise, is at an all-time high, putting financial strain on
households.
Since 2015, Bogdan, who is 29
years old, has worked for Amazon. He claimed that employees were
"insulted" by the pay offer because they put their health at risk to
work during the pandemic's height.
He stated that the public needed
to "understand what is going on" behind the scenes each time they
made an order, which was one of the reasons they went on strike.
He asserted that Amazon gave the
impression that "everything is fine," but he added: Actually, it is
not true."
Amazon prides itself on its
"competitive" pay rates, according to a spokesperson. He stated that
workers in London and the South East were paid £11.45 per hour, while those in
the rest of the UK were paid £10.50 per hour.
He said this undeniable a 29%
increment in the base time-based compensation paid to Amazon representatives
starting around 2018.
However, union members want an
hourly wage of £15 The 50p offer, according to Mr. Westwood, was "a smack
in the mouth."
"These individuals had
labored for two years through the pandemic, which had caused Amazon's shares to
soar. They had witnessed profits that were simply unimaginable," he
stated.
Senior GMB union organizer Amanda
Gearing told the BBC's Today program that the strike action on Wednesday would
have a "massive impact" on the Coventry warehouse.
"Only the beginning":
The union says that about 300 of the 1,500 workers at Amazon's Coventry
location will walk out.
Ms. Gearing stated from the
picket line, "Coventry might be the start of the strikes, but it won't be
the end." We are aware that workers in other centers feel the same
way."
She continued, People have to
choose between heating their homes and eating, so it's not good enough,
especially from Amazon, which made billions of pounds during the
pandemic."
As COVID restrictions forced
people to shop online, Amazon's global sales and profits soared. Profits nearly
doubled to $21.3 billion (£17.2 billion) in 2019 and 2020, rising to $33.3
billion the following year.
Since economies have reopened,
growth has been uneven, and after hiring thousands of people since 2019, Amazon
is now laying off 18,000 people worldwide.
Mr. Westwood stated that by
asking for £15 per hour, "people might think we're being greedy." But
he mentioned Amazon's founder, executive chairman, and space explorer Jeff
Bezos, who, according to Forbes magazine, has a $120 billion fortune.
Mr. Westwood stated, "We
don't want his boat or his rockets." Just to be able to live is all we
want. Just being able to pay my bills at the end of the week is all I want.
That is the only request we have."
Image source: Getty Images.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns Blue Origin, a "space tourism"
company. Amazon claimed that only a "tiny proportion" of its
employees were involved in the strike. "Only a fraction of one
percent" of its UK employees, including those who voted against industrial
action, participated in the ballot, it stated.
However, Mr. Westwood deemed the
numbers "brilliant." The GMB claims that there are union members
scattered throughout the UK in varying numbers, despite the fact that Amazon
does not recognize unions. In the United States, Amazon has fought against
unionization.
The Amazon Labor Union, which has
now been officially certified, was approved by more than half of the 8,000
workers at a warehouse on Staten Island, New York. The company, on the other
hand, has pledged to appeal the certification.
According to Mr. Westwood, there
is a wide variety of nationalities employed at Coventry. They do not comprehend
that in the United Kingdom, we are able to organize a union, protest, and
withdraw our labor," he added.
"Someone is needed by our
workers. Although I am aware that it will be a prolonged process, these
individuals require someone who is not afraid. And I have no fear."