About 1400 Workers From warehouse Amazon In Coventry, central EnglandHe went on strike on Tuesday They plan to do so again on Wednesday, part of a long-running dispute over wages and union recognition, the GMB union said.
In the last two years there has been intensification Labor disputes In the United Kingdom, where employees Demanding a salary increase To confront high inflation.
Amazon has it 75 thousand employees in the United KingdomThis makes the US retail giant one of the ten largest employers in the British private sector.
Amazon It is preferable to solve problems directly with employees rather than through unions.
The latest Coventry strike comes a week after GMB members went on strike in the city centre Amazon Submit an application for compulsory union recognition to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC).
If the CAC, an independent body with statutory powers, decides that more than half of Amazon workers in Coventry are members of the GMB union, Amazon will have to formally recognize the union, a first for the company in Europe.
If CAC Rules that union It has more than 40 percent of the workforce, but less than 50 percent, a vote on union recognition will be held.
Coventry factory workers They went on strike for the first time in January last year.
The company has been influenced by union efforts around the world. In 2022, Amazon warehouse workers in New York They voted to form the company's first union.
Workers have left the US retail giant's headquarters in Coventry GMT and will put down their tools again with plans to repeat the strike at the same time on Wednesday. Employees at Amazon's Birmingham office plan to strike on March 27 and 28.
Regarding wages, an Amazon spokesperson said that the company regularly reviews wages “to ensure we are offering competitive salaries and benefits.”
The speaker pointed this out The minimum wage will increase initiallyin April at £12.30 ($15.58) and £13 per hour depending on location, an increase of 20% in two years and 50% since 2018.
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