Amazon faced its first strike by UK workers on Wednesday, protesting a pay increase deemed unacceptable in a cost-of-living crisis.
A few hundred warehouse workers in Coventry, central England, have walked out over a 5% pay increase, which is less than half the current UK inflation rate.
It comes as tens of thousands of UK workers, including nurses, teachers, and railway workers, go on strike in an attempt to secure pay raises that keep up with sky-high inflation.
According to Stuart Richards of the GMB union, “the first-ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike” were “taking on one of the world’s biggest companies to fight for a decent standard of living” in Coventry.
“After ignoring all requests to listen to workers’ concerns for six months, GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to do the right thing and give workers a proper pay rise,” he continued.
Workers were also protesting against other conditions described as “horrendous” by one GMB official, Amanda Gearing.
She stated that the main issue for workers was algorithm-driven target-led performance measures.
“They’re just working, working, working, they’re not allowed to talk to people, it’s difficult to take a toilet break,” she claimed.
Workers on strike carried a banner that read, “We are not robots.” “We are worth more,” said another.
Amazon responded in a statement, saying that “a tiny proportion of our workforce is involved” in the UK strike action.
“We value the excellent work that our teams perform throughout the year, and we are proud to offer competitive pay.”
Amazon stated that the minimum hourly wage in the United Kingdom has increased by 29% since 2018.
This was due in part to government-mandated increases in the UK minimum wage.
The annual inflation rate in the United Kingdom is 10.5 percent.
