Confident pickets on Tuesday at Amazon in Coventry (Picture: Sean Leahy)
Around 350 Amazon workers in Coventry began seven days of planned strikes this week. They are fighting the giant firm, one of the richest companies on the planet, for better pay and conditions.
This is the second time that workers in the GMB union have officially struck this year after walking out on 25 January. This follows the inspiring unofficial walkouts last year at several Amazon sites
Workers walked out on Tuesday and at 6am workers were crowding around the GMB union gazebo to sign up for the union and the strike. GMB official Stuart Richards said, “The Amazon strike is going from strength to strength. GMB members in Coventry are standing together and holding their bosses to account.”
Socialist Worker supporter Sean Leahy reports, “The picket at Amazon was the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was a few GMB organisers but mainly the Amazon workers themselves in all their diversity.
“The pickets were stopping all the traffic causing big queues all the way down to and along the main highway and main road from Birmingham.
“People were being advised to turn around, park their cars and join the union and many were doing it. An overwhelmingly migrant workforce mainly from Africa and Eastern Europe are organising themselves now, like a woman standing in front of a huge truck on the picket line. She looked at me and said, ‘He’s not driving over me here is he!’”
Workers were also set to strike on Thursday this week and then 13-17 of March. Amazon striker Dave told Socialist Worker that he was ready to get back on picket lines. “We haven’t had a meeting with management yet between the two rounds of strike action,” he said.
But staff have already said if pay isn’t addressed or they offer a tiny raise, then they’ll walk out on the spot.” Amazon UK Services Limited paid just £10.8 million in tax in 2021, despite recording a pre-tax profit of £204 million.
Dave also added he thinks the next step in this dispute is for strikes to spread to other fulfillment centres. More strikes can make the bosses bend to workers’ demands at Amazon.
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