‘We’re not robots’: the desperate cry of striking Amazon employees in the UK

Weekly shifts of up to 60 hours for barely minimum wage, broken legs and backs and a lack of toilets at the huge facility are some of the complaints from Amazon workers in the English city of Coventry, who are leading the biggest strike against the giant. in the United Kingdom.

After their first and historic strike on January 25, a group of nearly 500 GMB union workers escalated pressure Monday through Friday with yet another forceful response to protest their wages and working conditions, which they consider abusive.

In the midst of a snowfall that eventually gave way to the sun, strikers from Amazon They participated in a picket on Tuesday morning, with which they managed to stop several trucks of the company with goods from entering. In the afternoon, they will be replaced by those who work the night shift, in a pattern that will be repeated for five days.

Fight for union recognition

While some are trying to persuade colleagues who have come to work to join the strike, others are warming up by the fire or drinking hot tea, courtesy of GMB.

“Since the dispute began, we have increased the membership (unionized) at this distribution centre,” one of the largest in the country, about the size of eight football fields, union spokesman Tom Rigby told EFE.

Rigby explains that apart from asking for an increase from £10.5 (€11.8) an hour to £15 (€17), the goal is to hire more than half of the plant’s workforce – 2,000 people per address, although the figure is disputed – legally bind Amazon accept trade union representation and conduct collective bargaining.

In April 2022, the US multinational’s warehouse in New York became the first to receive such recognition in the US, in what was seen as a workers’ victory over a company known for its anti-union stance.

stress and illness

Emilia Gradinaru, a 47-year-old Romanian who has worked in Coventry city center since it opened in 2018, is one of many employees complaining about the damage caused by the “safety shoes” they are forced to wear.

In addition to having hard legs, he experiences constant back pain due to the weight he has to carry, being unable to sit down during his 10-hour shift. She is one of those who work 60 hours a week instead of 40 to survive the rising cost of living.

“We are humans, not robots,” he told EFE, echoing one of the strike’s slogans to explain the constant monitoring and reprimands of those subjected by superiors.

“They always ask us to perform more, it’s never enough. I lose my health and don’t see the light of day,” adds Justyna Nowak, a 35-year-old Polish woman.

Faced with widespread condemnation of excessive goals, spokesman Amazon he told EFE that “performance measures are periodically assessed and based on benchmarks based on the actual performance history of employees.”

“We look at their performance and then set that measure, always keeping safety in mind,” he explained.

Another of the strikers’ most common complaints is the lack of toilet facilities at the site, with more than 14 kilometers of conveyor belts, leading in some cases to what they say was urinating into bottles.

Instead, the company says that “all employees have easy access to sanitary facilities that are within walking distance of their workplace and can use the bathroom when needed.”

Several workers told EFE of incidents of injury and health problems, including miscarriages and fainting spells, when management was reluctant to call an ambulance, apparently to avoid tarnishing their image.

“I have two knee replacements and once I hurt myself and couldn’t move. Instead of taking me to the emergency room, they made me call my husband to pick me up,” says 57-year-old Marie Connelly.

An Amazon spokesman said, for his part, that “keeping our employees safe is the number one priority and the most important thing we do.”

“We work closely with health and safety experts, conduct thousands of inspections of our buildings, and actively seek people’s views on how we can improve their well-being at work,” he said.

Whether due to lack of will or lack of communication, it seems that the employees demonstrating this week outside the Coventry plant do not feel heard.

(As reported by EFE)

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