Amazon UK staff vote to recognize unions

A small, but loud team of GMB union organisers are taking on Amazon on a traffic island outside of Coventry. Armed with homemade signs and a pile of orange bucket caps, they’re ready to take on Amazon.

Last week, more than 3,000 employees here – or “associates” as Amazon calls them — were allowed to cast a ballot which could force Amazon to recognize a union in the UK for the first ever. It is one of several tussles over union recognition globally at the retail-to-cloud-services group founded by Jeff Bezos in his garage in 1994 and now worth more than $2 trillion.

The Seattle-based company is known for its anti-union policies. If the GMB wins the case, workers would be able to negotiate with Amazon managers about pay, holidays, and hours. This would be anathema to them. The GMB also believes that recognition will strengthen their hand when it comes to tackling health and safety concerns identified by its representatives inside the huge Coventry warehouse known as BHX4. The workers have described doing physically challenging work while being closely monitored by managers who could issue an “adapt”, which is a disciplinary mark, for a number of minor infractions.

The GMB’s long campaign in BHX4 highlights the current barriers that they face.

The ballot was closed on Saturday after an intensive month-long process. The result is expected to be announced on Monday. Taiwo Owateme is the local Labour MP who has backed the workers. He says: “I am so proud of the campaign that they have run and the progress they’ve made in their struggle.”

Keir starmer, at the TUC Congress in Brighton two year ago, also praised what he called GMB’s “fantastic” campaign and urged Amazon to recognize the union.

On the approach road of BHX4, at 6pm, the GMB team is greeted by workers arriving for their night shift to the rhythmic beat of dhol drummers, hired to create a festive atmosphere.

Some beep or give a thumbs up sign from their car windows, while others silently sweep past to check into work.

Rachel Fagan, a GMB member, shouts through the portable PA system that they’ve wheeled out in the middle of the street. Stuart Richards shouts, “Let’s bring about the change that we all want to see. Let’s improve this workplace!”

Another pair of GMB activists has set up a separate walk-in entry nearby with fizzy drinks and sweets, as well as bucket hats. While tired staff leave the day shift and others enter the building to begin the night shift, they are also asked if they voted and encouraged to say “yes”.

Many workers stop to chat with the activists and receive a free hat or drink. Several people who spoke to the Observer said they had already voted or planned to vote for recognition. “I voted GMB. Edwin Ogbu says, “We need to make some changes.”

Mark Foley, an incoming recruit, also voted “yes”. “I feel that there is more power for people.”

Anna, who doesn’t give her name, says: I voted yes because I believe it is good to have a new change.

In a windowless, stuffy room at a community centre nearby, the same group of GMB activists had been on the phone earlier, fueled by coffee and coke, to try to convince their 1,400 members to vote yes.

The Central Arbitration Committee, the government body that oversees union recognition and supervises the voting process, appointed an independent team to scrutinize the results.

Small teams of GMB members were allowed to enter the facility two weeks prior to the opening of the ballot. They addressed a series 45-minute meetings, and made the case for recognition in a meticulously negotiated process with Amazon’s attorneys.

Amanda Gearing is the senior GMB organiser for the Midlands. She says that they were constantly followed inside the building. This included going to the bathroom. Amazon managers also sat outside their meetings and knocked on the door after the 45 minute time slot had expired. She says that they made the situation as difficult for them as possible.

A spokesperson for Amazon says that all visitors are constantly accompanied by a member of staff due to health and safety concerns.

Workers have described anti-union tactics in the past, such as QR codes that are posted around the site. When scanned, the GMB receives an automatic email canceling their membership.

Mathias Bolton is the head of commerce for UNI Global Union. The union campaigns to improve terms and conditions on Amazon worldwide.

He says that the top decision makers in Amazon are in Seattle. “Whether it’s Coventry, India or Germany, all of these decisions about labour are made there, not in other places,” he said. It’s part of a larger ideology about ‘how will we deal with labour’.

He said the company views itself as a “disruptor” – in terms of employment law.

Bolton continues: “It is not just traditional anti-unionism. It’s like going into a workplace and asking: “Why are these laws?” Why are these regulations in place? Why is this regulation there? “We’re going do something new.

Amazon has been disputing the results of the vote at the Bessemer warehouse for the past two years. In Staten Island, New York where the staff voted to recognize the union in April 2022.

Amazon’s antipathy towards unions is so strong that it has taken legal action against the National Labor Relations Board in the US. It is seeking to declare the watchdog unconstitutional . Elon Musk’s Tesla and retailer Trader Joe’s have joined Amazon in this effort.

Gearing began her involvement with Amazon in the Midlands about 12 years ago, before BHX4 opened. She and her colleagues heard complaints about the working conditions in Rugeley, another local Amazon site. Since then, the union has steadily recruited members.

Workers in Coventry who had hoped to receive a generous wage rise as a reward for their efforts during the pandemic received an additional 50p per hour in the summer of 2022. Staff were furious and staged a wildcat strike in Coventry’s city centre.

This led to the First Industrial Action at an Amazon Facility in the UK. It began with a walkout of midnight in January last, and has been continued by a series strike days ever since.

GMB’s latest bid for formal recognition comes after the GMB withdrew its initial application last summer.

The union alleged that Amazon deliberately recruited more than 1,000 additional employees to influence the decision. Amazon claims that they were hired in the course of normal business.

Coventry workers applied for a second time after a concerted drive to join the union. The CAC granted them the right of a legally binding vote. To win, the majority of voters must vote “yes”, and this yes voter must represent at least 40% in the bargaining unit.

James Bloodworth, author of Hired (2018), reported that he worked in the Rugeley warehouse while researching his book about low-paid UK workers. He said that at that time toilet breaks were being monitored and taking too many sick leaves could lead to disciplinary actions. He says that Amazon’s hostility towards unionization is striking. What are they hiding? What are they trying to hide?

He says Amazon will resist any challenge to the management culture, which includes what he describes as a productivity obsession. It’s hard to meet these productivity targets, which was the most common complaint I heard when I worked there and since.

GMB, like every other union, is eager to see what practical differences Labour’s “new Deal for Working People” will bring.

The Labour Party has promised to simplify recognition. the document Labour released on the new deal in the election campaign stated: “Stronger unions and collective negotiation will be key to solving problems such as low wages, insecurity, inequality and discrimination.”

Kate Bell, assistant general secretary of the TUC said that even if the hurdles to union recognition were not overcome this time, they would continue fighting until all Amazon workers in the UK have decent pay and working conditions. She also added that the tide was turning against the bad employers with the new agreement about to be implemented.

The new government has not made it clear how serious they are about Amazon and other corporate giants. The small group of GMB activists from Coventry is hopeful that they can still make history, despite all the odds. “I’m quite positive about it,” says Gearing. “Our prediction for the game is that we’ll win.”

Amazon’s spokesperson said that employees can choose to join or not to be a member of a union. It has always been the case. We review our compensation regularly to ensure that we are offering competitive benefits and wages.

We also value the direct engagement of our employees throughout Amazon. It’s a vital part of our culture. “We value this direct relationship, and so do our staff.”