Amazon workers at UK warehouse to strike during Prime Day event

Nearly 900 Amazon workers at a warehouse in Britain will stage a strike for three days in the coming week over a pay dispute, labour union GMB said on Saturday (July 8).

The strike will take place from July 11 to 13 at Amazon's warehouse in Coventry, for two hours during the morning and two hours in the evening on the three days, GMB said in an emailed statement to Reuters. It coincides with a Prime Day sales event the company has announced for July 11 to 12.

"GMB members in Coventry have time and time again shown that this fight will only end with 15 pounds (S$26) an hour and union rights," GMB Senior Organiser Rachel Fagan said.

Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce said that the minimum starting pay for its employees is between 11 to 12 pounds per hour, depending on the location.

The Coventry site does not directly serve customer orders and there will be no disruption to customers, Amazon told Reuters in an email.

Last month, the union said that the Coventry warehouse workers had voted for six more months of strikes. The workers also went on strike last month from June 12 to 14.

Amazon is expected to record about US$7 billion (S$9.4 billion) in revenue from its Prime Day sales, an increase of 12 per cent from what was disclosed for Prime Day during the third quarter last year, according to JPMorgan.

Strikes have been called in several industries in Britain in recent months, including by nurses, teachers and transportation workers in response to inflationary pressures.

On Thursday, trade union RMT said the staff of the London Underground will strike from July 23 to 28 in a long-running dispute over pensions, job cuts and working conditions.

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