GMB on cusp of forcing Amazon UK to legally recognise trade union
Amazon could, within 10 days, have to negotiate with workers on pay, holiday and sick pay.
Amazon could soon be forced to recognise the GMB union, and the rights of the union's membership.
The GMB states that it has enrolled approximately 700 employees of the Amazon fulfillment site in Coventry, which constitutes a majority of the sites 1300 employees. This majority meets the legal threshold for mandatory union recognition in UK workplaces and the GMB has written to Amazon to inform them of this.
Amazon now has 10 days to respond.
Amanda Gearing, senior organiser of the GMB, told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that the process of establishing a union was "never straightforward".
She said: "There is a full process in place to try and prevent the GMB from forming, but we have the numbers now and Amazon will go out of their way to flood that warehouse with more workers so the numbers are different."
If Amazon does not respond or they refuse to recognise the GMB within the 10-day deadline, the next step is a statutory process via the Central Arbitration Committee, the body tasked with resolving such disputes.
Series of strikes
This latest development comes after a series of strikes by GMB members among the Coventry warehouse workforce. The first official walkout came in January, with follow up strike days in March and April prompting Amazon to offer a starting salary increase of 50 pence to between £11 and £12 per hour from this month.
The GMB which had been calling for an increase to £15 per hour called the offer, "insulting."
In response, Amazon UK said: "We offer competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career growth, all while working in a safe, modern work environment.
"At Amazon, these benefits and opportunities come with the job, as does the ability to communicate directly with the leadership of the company."
The company said it respects its employees' rights to choose to join or not join a union and that it regularly reviews pay rates. Over the past seven months, minimum pay has risen by 10% and by more than 37% since 2018, it said.
Nonetheless, industrial action ballots are now underway in a further five Amazon fulfillment centres across the Midlands, and the GMB claims that more Amazon workers are seeking to join them.
Amazon has also come under pressure from employees in the US, where it was forced last year to recognise a brand new, independent Amazon Labor Union, a victory for employees which was upheld by a US labor board director earlier this year. A second Amazon warehouse in Albany, New York is due to vote on joining the same union in October.