Amazon may be forced to recognise a union for the first time in the UK, after the Central Arbitration Committee ruled that the GMB can proceed with a vote to gauge worker support for a collective bargaining unit at its Coventry warehouse.
The CAC, the independent statutory body that adjudicates on collective bargaining rights, has determined that GMB can hold a vote to test support for union recognition at the warehouse.
It found that GMB union members represent more than a third of employees at the site, well above the 10% threshold required for the CAC to force a vote on a proposed bargaining unit.
Amazon union recognition
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Amazon has previously refused to recognise the GMB, or any union, at its Amazon UK Services’ Coventry fulfilment centre. However, GMB members at the site – and more recently also in Birmingham – have staged several strikes in pursuit of union rights and a pay increase.
Last year the GMB was forced to withdraw its first application to the CAC after Amazon recruited more employees, meaning the union no longer had the members needed for statutory union recognition.
In its latest application to the CAC, the GMB said that the “working environment, use of technology, monitoring and performance management in other words, health and safety, terms and conditions, pay” were issues for the collective bargaining process, and should the union be recognised, “are exactly the matters about which we will challenge and seek to negotiate better terms for our members”.
Amazon claimed the GMB had made “extremely serious and untrue accusations” about health and safety, employee relations matters and claims that Amazon had manipulated workforce numbers. The CAC said these were “wholly irrelevant to the questions the CAC needed to determine”.
The CAC will now appoint an independent organisation to arrange a legally binding vote of workers, with a ballot to be announced in the coming weeks.
GMB senior organiser Amanda Gearing said: “From day one of GMB’s fight for union rights at Amazon it has been a modern-day David and Goliath battle.
“One year on, this is a truly historic moment as workers stand up against the company’s relentless anti-union propaganda. Workers have won against the odds and will now be given a legally binding say on forming Europe’s first recognised union at Amazon.
“Amazon bosses have been sent a clear and unapologetic message from their own workers that they refuse poverty pay and unsafe working conditions; they demand dignity at work and a union to represent them.”
An Amazon spokesperson said: “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have. We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages and benefits. Our minimum starting pay has increased to £12.30 and £13 per hour depending on location, that’s a 20% increase over two years and 50% since 2018.
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“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.”
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