Coventry, UK – “Amazon isn’t going to give you anything unless you fight for it,” shouts a union organizer to a loud bang as dozens of workers protest outside the company’s tech warehouse in Coventry, central England.
“We are asking for a salary increase. One of my children has scabies and I told him to wash once every two days because I can’t afford hot water,” Kaur, who declined to give her last name, told AFP. in a jacket a dark jacket and a hat to protect you from the winter cold.
This 40-year-old woman and mother of three children is almost always working at night and on her feet.
He earns 10.5 pounds an hour, like the country’s minimum wage, which is less than 12 pounds, plus a small premium for night shifts.
Its energy consumption, but also the bill of purchase, has risen more than twice before the crisis, so that it is “difficult to survive”.
Inflation in the UK is above +10 percent, and although energy prices are starting to fall, food prices are rising +17 percent.
Valentina, a 37-year-old worker, believes that the workforce is poorly paid for the work they do.
“Every day we lift heavy boxes, 15, 17, 20 and 25 kilos. You do damage to yourself,” he said.
Anthony Daniel 22 often drives about 120 kilometers day and night, which seriously disturbs his sleep, he says.
Health in truth
“Through Covid, we’ve put our lives on the line, and the results are huge,” says colleague Dan, 29. Now “we have to work 60 hours a week to pay our bills. We don’t have time for our family and it’s exhausted.” Amazon’s global sales increased by +9 percent to 514,000 million dollars (more than 580 dollars in borrowed currency) in 2022, although operating profits increased to 12,200 million dollars (close to 14,000 European dollars) due to strong costs.
The company has launched a cost-cutting plan and plans to cut 18,000 positions worldwide.
A spokesperson explains to AFP that employees have benefits such as discounts on products, cheaper meals and health insurance. Only “a small proportion of our workforce has been impacted these weeks.”
GMB union representative Stuart Richards lamented that Coventry is the only place in the country where there is real union representation. Some 400 workers joined the strike between Tuesday and Thursday, according to Richards, out of a total workforce of 200,000.
Amazon’s delivery drivers have filed a class action lawsuit seeking review of workers rather than contractors. With the workers gathered under orange tents on Thursday night, Richards notes that “a few of them are from the UK” because they don’t always know their rights and often stand up for them at a disadvantage.
There is no dialogue with management, adds the representative, announcing that the company is making things “incredibly difficult” for the union.
He also criticized the company’s pressure on workers by imposing a “constant” measure of productivity, which translates into an “incredible number of injuries” at work (AFP).
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