Amazon strikers picket in Coventry last week (Picture: Sean Leahy)
Amazon bosses tried to head off workers’ strike by announcing they’d increase pay in Britain to just over the minimum wage. But workers aren’t buying it.
The corporate giant has said it would begin paying all new starters £11 an hour—a meagre increase of just 50p from £10.50. The minimum wage is set to rise to £10.42 from £9.50 for those over 23 years old in April.
Dave is an Amazon worker at BHX4 fulfilment centre in Coventry, where GMB union members are striking for £15 an hour. He said that managers at BHX4 didn’t get the response they hoped for from workers at a staff meeting on Wednesday morning.
“They told us in the morning briefing, expecting us to be happy and cheerful about it,” he told Socialist Worker. “I think they even expected a round of applause. But instead all they got was silence.”
Bosses claimed that some workers’ pay would rise to as much as £12. This makes it a pay increase of between 8 and 10 percent—still a real-terms cut when inflation soars at 13.8 percent.
“It’s a bit cheeky of them as it’s split the workforce,” said Dave. “So some are on £11 an hour, but some are on more.
“I think they’ll sugarcoat it and say it’s a decent pay rise to make us look greedy. But it’s not going to account for much after taxes and bills as they are still rising faster than the wages are. They’ll try to justify it by claiming they check what other companies pay and try to match it.”
Dave said that he hopes union leaders don’t accept the pay rise and hail it as a victory. “To go from wanting £15 to accepting £11 would just be a kick in the teeth for us,” he said. “Some staff have said they would accept £12.50 as a compromise, but £11 is nothing.
“Because it’s a national deal, I hope more workers in different warehouses join our action. The mood here is people want to keep fighting. We are now waiting to hear new strike dates.”
Workers at BHX4 showed last week that they should be an inspiration for other Amazon workers and the rest of the trade union movement. Hundreds of strikers took to picket lines, blocked roads and tried to persuade other workers not to go to work. Their second round of strikes ended on Friday of last week.
The bosses’ new insulting pay deal should be a lightning rod for other workers at Amazon centres to join the strikes.
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