UK Amazon Workers Vote Against Unionization

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in the U.K. narrowly rejected unionization by a mere 28 votes.

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Of the 2,600 workers who voted, 50.5 percent voted against joining the GMB union, while 49.5 percent voted in favor.

If the GMB had won the vote, it would have been the first time Amazon recognized a union in the U.K. The e-commerce giant would have been required to negotiate with workers on issues such as pay, as well as matters related to worker safety, hours and benefits like holidays.

Amazon said in a statement that it places “enormous value on engaging directly with our employees and having daily conversations with them,” which remains one of the company’s reasons for not wanting to recognize the union.

Workers at the Coventry warehouse were granted the right in April to hold the legally binding vote by the independent Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) after a campaign by GMB. Amazon had rejected a request for voluntary recognition. The ballot process was overseen by independent advisers appointed by the CAC.

However, like many unionization votes go, the 500,000-member GMB is challenging the ruling on allegations that Amazon engaged in union-busting tactics to sway the vote. In the U.S., the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has accused the company of similar claims.

“Our members have come agonizingly close to winning today and GMB will carry on the fight for the pay and recognition they deserve. Amazon bosses have created a culture of fear for low paid workers trying to improve their pay, terms and conditions,” said Amanda Gearing, a senior organizer at the GMB, in a statement.

GMB claims managers at the warehouse had hit workers with an “unrelenting campaign” of anti-union messages, including holding multiple anti-union seminars.

“From day one, Amazon have been relentless in their attacks on their own workforce. We’ve seen workers pressured into attending six hours of anti-union seminars on top of the fortune spent by Amazon bosses to scare workers,” said Gearing. “Workers have been told they will get no pay rise this year and will have to lose even more benefits if they vote for union recognition.”

This comes after prior legal action from the union, which filed an inducement claim against the company in April for pressuring workers into cancelling their union membership during the ballot period.

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In that complaint, the GMB says Amazon put up posters in fulfillment centers featuring QR codes that generated an email to the union’s membership department requesting that their membership be cancelled.

At the time, Amazon claimed workers were telling the company they wanted to cancel their membership but could not find a way to do so.

With a loss in hand, the GMB told BBC it is considering an attempt at a second vote at the warehouse, and that discussions are taking place about the go-forward strategy.

Under current rules, a union cannot reapply for recognition for the same group of workers for three years after losing a ballot. This would mean that the GMB would have to persuade the CAC that the pool of workers eligible to vote had changed.

GMB membership hovered around just 50 when the Coventry workers held their first strike in January 2023. Over the next 18 months, the union organized 37 more days of work stoppages, building up the company’s membership to more than 1,400 employees of the estimated 3,000 at the warehouse.

Main sticking points for the workers include higher pay and better working conditions at warehouses across the country.

Amazon’s minimum starting pay ranges from 12.30 pounds ($16) to 13 pounds ($16.90) per hour depending on the warehouse’s location. The company has seen 20-percent wages increase over two years and 50-percent increases since 2018.

However, employees have repeatedly indicated since 2023 that they are seeking a pay bump to 15 pounds ($19.50) an hour.

Despite much of the chatter about unionization at Amazon since workers at a Staten Island, N.Y. warehouse voted to unionize in April 2022, there haven’t been any other facilities that had a successful push. The online marketplace still hasn’t recognized the union’s victory, as it has continued to question the results of the New York election. However, the Amazon Labor Union got a major win last month that could help scale the unionization push on a national level, when it officially cemented an alliance with the Teamsters.

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