Amazon workers vote to strike at Coventry depot in UK first

Amazon workers at a vast depot in Coventry are poised to go on strike in the new year, demanding pay of £15 an hour, after securing a historic yes vote in a ballot for industrial action.

Members of the GMB union opted to hold a second ballot after narrowly missing the 50% turnout threshold earlier this year.

This time the turnout was 63%, with 98% of those backing strike action, marking the first time Amazon workers in the UK have voted to do so.

Workers at the site staged an informal stoppage in the summer, when they were told they would receive a pay rise of 50p an hour, taking the basic rate to £10.50.

The Coventry workers have won the backing of US organisers who recently secured union recognition at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York. Derrick Palmer, of the Amazon Labor Union, joined a recent online rally in support of their cause.

This covered the period when they had hoped to strike if the first ballot had resulted in a yes vote.

Strike action is now expected to take place in January. Amazon says it is unlikely to have an impact on customers because the plant is not a fulfilment centre, dispatching parcels. However, the GMB is hopeful of causing significant disruption.

The stoppage will take place as a wave of strikes continues to sweep across the UK amid double-digit inflation, with nurses, rail staff, civil servants and postal workers already striking, and teachers currently balloting.