Union calls Amazon's UK pay rise an 'insult'

Employees want at least £15 an hour to deal with cost of living rises

Amazon is to raise the minimum starting wage for its operational workers in the UK by up to 50 pence.

The minimum starting hourly wage will climb to between £11 and £12 per hour, depending on their location.

That equates to an annual salary of between £22,800 and roughly £25,000.

By contrast Amazon CEO Andy Jassy took home total compensation valued at $212 million in 2021 - almost 8,500 times higher.

The raise comes after a run of strikes by Amazon warehouse workers in Coventry, which have been going on since January. Employees are demanding at least £15 an hour to deal with the cost of living crisis that has caused unrest around the UK over the last 12 months.

Amazon workers have also complained about overbearing management practices and long working hours.

The first Coventry strike was also a first for the UK, when 98% of those polled agreed to strike to protest the original 50 pence per hour pay rise offer.

Amanda Gearing, senior organiser of the GMB union - which represents over 500 Amazon workers - described the new pay rate as "an insult" to workers.

Gearing said the strikers will discuss the issue over the next few days before announcing a fresh round of action.

Amazon raised UK hourly rates by 50 pence last year, to between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour.

"Over the past seven months, our minimum pay has risen by 10% and by more than 37% since 2018. We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities," the company said in a statement.

"These are just some of the reasons people want to come and work at Amazon, whether it's their first job, a seasonal role or an opportunity for them to advance their career."

Amazon's most recent announcement of a pay rise comes as the UK National Living Wage is slated to increase 9.7%, to £10.42 an hour, in April, although it does not apply to apprentices or anyone under the age of 23.

"Nobody believes that the extra 50p an hour we've won at Coventry is remotely enough to live on," Darren Westwood, an Amazon worker, told The Guardian.

"We know we're worth more - that's why we will be stepping up the action and appealing to workers in other Amazon sites to join us in the strikes."

Ongoing criticism

Amazon has long faced criticism for its labour practises.

Employees have accused the company of offering subpar working conditions in its distribution centres and warehouses, and of interfering in unionisation votes.

Last year, employees at a facility in Staten Island, New York, voted to establish the first Amazon warehouse workers' union in the United States.

However, a similar vote in Bessemer, Alabama, was defeated, which organisers blamed on anti-union propaganda and practices by Amazon.

Amazon has over 30 warehouses and almost 70,000 employees in the UK.

The firm announced plans to close three of those locations in January, in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster, and Gourock, affecting 1,200 employees.

Those employees will be offered the opportunity to move to other divisions.

Globally, Amazon has announced plans to cut up to 27,000 positions in divisions including physical retail, cloud services, advertising and live streaming.