GMB members vote for strike action at Amazon Minworth site

Union members at a new Amazon site have voted to join industrial action in a dispute over pay.

The centre at Minworth, in Sutton Coldfield, opened in October, employing 2,000 people.

The GMB trade union has 34 members at the site and said they had voted to join industrial action being taken by colleagues in Coventry.

Amazon has previously said it regularly reviewed pay to ensure it offered "competitive wages and benefits".

Workers in Coventry were the first of the firm's staff in the UK to back industrial action in January, and most recently went on strike on Black Friday, one of the busiest days for online retailers, although Amazon claimed customers were unaffected.

Of the GMB's 34 members at Minworth, it said all 19 who voted backed strikes. It said dates would be announced in the coming weeks.

Union organiser Amanda Gearing said members felt "betrayed by a company that is letting low pay and unsafe working conditions become the new normal".

"Company bosses are hoping they can bury their head in the sand; but the truth is industrial relations at Amazon UK is in chaos," she said.

She said industrial action was "snowballing" in the wake of the black Friday walkout and that the firm faced "a winter of strike chaos".

An Amazon spokesman said that by April minimum starting pay would have increased to £12.30 and £13 per hour depending on location - "a 20% increase over two years and 50% since 2018".

That is compared with the National Living Wage, which is set to rise set to rise from £10.42 to £11.44 per hour, following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement last week.

"We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities," the Amazon spokesman added.

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