Amazon workers will walk out at a second depot after GMB union announced the outcome of a strike ballot at the online retailer’s fulfilment centre at Rugeley.
The union said that more than 100 workers at the Staffordshire site are now set to walk out after 86% of those who voted backed the strike.
The news comes as GMB said it had reached 1,000 members at Amazon’s Coventry fulfilment centre, which has seen 22 days of strike action in the dispute over pay and union rights.
GMB members will now plan strike dates at what will be only the second Amazon depot in the UK where workers have taken industrial action.
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Stuart Richards, GMB senior organiser, said: “This a game-changing moment in the campaign to force Amazon to treat its workers like human beings.
“They’ve thrown everything at stopping this, but workers at Amazon Rugeley have organised and delivered a clear message that they demand fair pay and union rights.
“We’ve seen one of the world’s wealthiest companies, offering UK workers a pay rise of pennies and work conditions fit only for the history books.”
Employees at its Coventry depot held a two-day strike last week to coincide with Amazon’s annual sale for its Prime members, one of the busiest times of the year for the company.
Amazon has claimed that only 43 of its workers at Rugeley voted in favour of industrial action.
An Amazon spokesperson said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages and benefits. In less than a year, our minimum pay has risen by 10% and by more than 37% since 2018.
“We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities. These are just some of the reasons people want to come and work at Amazon, whether it’s their first job, a seasonal role or an opportunity for them to advance their career.”
Amazon said its minimum starting pay for employees is £11-12 per hour, depending on location, which exceeds the national living wage (£10.42) and the “real” Living Wage (£10.90, or £11.95 in London), but GMB is calling for £15 per hour and full union recognition.
Full-time, part-time and seasonal frontline employees also receive an additional special payment of up to £500 at Christmas, as well as benefits including private medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and employee discounts on Amazon.
Last month, GMB’s Coventry members voted to extend their strike mandate until December. The vote came after the union withdrew a bid to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for formal recognition at the fulfilment centre.
At the time, GMB said its membership had reached 800 staff, more than half the 50% needed for statutory union recognition. However, after GMB made its CAC application, Amazon said it employed 2,700 at the warehouse. This meant GMB had no longer met the threshold to become a recognised union at the depot.
GMB has also been canvassing support for industrial action from workers at four other sites across the Midlands – at Mansfield, Coalville, Kegworth and Rugby.
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In 2019, Amazon invited Personnel Today to visit its depot in Tilbury, Essex, after media reports had suggested that ambulances were regularly being called to an Amazon warehouse to assist employees.
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