Amazon workers claim robots are treated better

Amazon workers volition signifier the first-ever UK onslaught against the online elephantine connected Wednesday successful a protestation implicit pay.

Members of the GMB national are walking retired astatine Amazon's Coventry warehouse implicit what they telephone a "derisory" 50p an hr wage rise.

Workers told the BBC astir "severe" conditions, claiming they are perpetually monitored and upbraided for "idle time" lasting conscionable a fewer minutes.

Amazon said it has a strategy "that recognises large performance".

A spokesperson said it "also encourages coaching to assistance employees amended if they are not gathering their show goals".

But 2 Amazon workers, who are members of the GMB, said the robots successful the warehouse "are treated amended than us".

Darren Westwood and Garfield Hilton described to the BBC however adjacent a travel to the toilet tin pb to questions by managers.

"The happening is with stopping enactment is that they privation to cognize why," said Mr Hilton. "So if the clip is beyond a mates of minutes they tin spot it connected the system."

Mr Hilton, who has diabetes, said it is not ever imaginable to find toilets adjacent by successful the gathering and the process of locating 1 and returning tin sometimes instrumentality upwards of 15 minutes.

"They volition past question you "what were you doing?'."

They said that managers way unit show and clip that is not spent scanning items is accrued.

Workers astatine the Coventry warehouse scan banal which is sent retired to Amazon fulfilment centres, to beryllium shipped to consumers.

Instead of scanning, workers mightiness beryllium asked to grip pallets. "So erstwhile there's problems with a pallet oregon a box, that clip volition accrue," said Mr Westwood.

"Technically could adhd up to 30 minutes. [The managers] volition travel down and say, 'during today, you've had 34 minutes of idle time. What were you doing?."

A spokesperson for Amazon said: "Performance is lone measured erstwhile an worker is astatine their presumption and logged successful to bash their job.

"If an worker logs out, which they tin bash astatine immoderate time, the show absorption instrumentality is paused."

But Mr Westwood and Mr Hilton said moving conditions are taking a toll connected their colleagues, immoderate of whom are moving 60-hour weeks to support up with the outgo of living.

Mr Hilton said that helium has seen workers falling dormant connected the abbreviated autobus thrust to Amazon's warehouse. "There's a immense magnitude of them successful the gathering virtually successful shade mode."

He said Amazon wants "every infinitesimal successful that gathering to beryllium maximised".

"You person to look astatine this way, if the container with the merchandise is not moving, you're not making money. This is Amazon. If there's a occupation with a box, it's a loss-maker. If the container leaves a gathering is making money."

In August, Amazon offered workers a 50p per hr rise.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: "We admit the large enactment our teams bash passim the twelvemonth and we're arrogant to connection competitory wage which starts astatine a minimum of betwixt £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending connected location."

He said this is simply a 29% summation successful the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018.

But unions members privation to beryllium paid £15 an hour. Mr Westwood said the 50p connection was "a smack successful the mouth".

"These radical had worked 2 years done the pandemic, that had seen Amazon's shares spell done the roof, they had seen the profits conscionable go unimaginable," helium said.

Amazon income and profits soared arsenic Covid restrictions forced radical to store online. Between 2019 and 2020, profits astir doubled to $21.3bn (£17.2bn) and roseate again the pursuing twelvemonth to $33.3bn.

Mr Westwood said "people mightiness deliberation we're being greedy" by asking for £15 an hour. But helium pointed to Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, enforcement president and abstraction adventurer, who has a $120bn luck according to Forbes magazine.

"We don't privation his vessel oregon his rockets," said Mr Westwood. "We conscionable privation to beryllium capable to live. I conscionable privation to beryllium capable to wage my bills astatine the extremity of the week. That's each we're asking for."

Of the 1,500 workers astatine Amazon's Coventry site, astir 300 are expected to onslaught connected Wednesday.

Amazon said: "A tiny proportionality of our workforce is involved. In fact, according to the verified figures, lone a fraction of 1% of our UK employees voted successful the ballot - and that includes those who voted against concern action."

But Mr Westwood said the numbers were "brilliant". Amazon does not recognise unions but, according to the GMB determination are members scattered passim the UK successful varying numbers.

Amazon has been battling against unionisation successful the US.

More than fractional of the 8,000 workers astatine a warehouse connected Staten Island, New York, voted to articulation the Amazon Labor Union which has present been officially certified. However, the institution has vowed to entreaty the certification.

Mr Westwood said the fig of national members successful Coventry was not a small. "Back successful July [it] was 30 people. Now it's implicit 300," helium said.

He said that determination is simply a immense scope of antithetic nationalities who enactment astatine Coventry. "They don't recognize this is the UK - we tin organise a union, we tin protest, we tin retreat our labour.

"They request someone," said Mr Westwood. "I cognize it's going to beryllium a agelong slog, but these radical request idiosyncratic who's not frightened.

"And I'm not frightened."