GMB action planned for Amazon warehouses during Black Friday peak

DeliveryX

Amazon warehouses could be hit by worker walkouts tomorrow with plans by GMB members to demonstrate at five Amazon warehouses across the country. A number of protests are planned against what GMB, the union which represents Amazon workers, claims are ‘inhuman conditions’.
Action will take place at the company’s warehouses in Rugeley, Milton Keynes, Warrington, Peterborough and Swansea. Amazon workers in Italy and Spain will strike for 24 hours on Friday.

An investigation by GMB earlier this year found that ambulances were called out to Amazon warehouses 600 times during the past three financial years whilst it said that separate figures showed that 602 reports have been made from Amazon warehouses to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, urged Amazon to discuss the problems with them. “We’re standing up and saying enough is enough, these are people making Amazon its money.Working people and the communities Amazon operates in deserve better than this. That’s what we’re campaigning for.”

Amazon however has disputed the claims. “Amazon has created in the UK more than 25,000 good jobs with a minimum of £9.50/hour and in the London area, £10.50/hour on top of industry-leading benefits and skills training opportunities,” the company said in a statement.

“All of our sites are safe places to work and reports to the contrary are simply wrong. According to the UK Government’s Health and Safety Executive, Amazon has over 40% fewer injuries on average than other transportation and warehousing companies in the UK. We encourage everyone to compare our pay, benefits, and working conditions to others and come see for yourself on one of the public tours we offer every day at our centres across the UK uk.amazonfctours.com.”

Image credit: Amazon

Read More

Register for Newsletter

Created with Sketch.

Receive 3 newsletters per week

Created with Sketch.

Gain access to all Top500 research

Created with Sketch.

Personalise your experience on IR.net