Amazon warehouse staff in Essex walk out over 35p an hour pay rise

As workers across the country face a cost of living crisis, Amazon offers their employees a “pathetic pay offer”, says GMB. Workers left the depot in Tilbury, Essex on Wednesday and Thursday last week to demand a pay increase of £2 per hour. 

Workers are seeking a £2 p/h rise to better match the demands of the role and cope with the cost of living crisis, says the GMB union. 

Amazon is one of the most profitable companies on the planet. 🌎

They can afford to protect their workers from the worst of the cost-of-living crisis, and that should start with an immediate £2 an hour wage rise. pic.twitter.com/QnOiRqJjyl

— GMB Union (@GMB_union) August 9, 2022

As of Friday, workers at a range of warehouses are doing “slowdown work”. 

Protests where workers slow down their work to one package an hour – so they are still paid – are happening in a range of depots. 

These include: 

• Tilbury 
• Dartford 
• Belvedere 
• Hemel Hempstead 
• Chesterfield

Steve Garelick, GMB Regional Organiser, said:

“Amazon is one of the most profitable companies on the planet. With household costs spiralling, the least they can do is offer decent pay.

Amazon continues to reject working with trade unions to deliver better working conditions and fair pay. Their repeated use of short-term contracts is designed to undermine worker’s rights.   

The image the company likes to project, and the reality for their workers could not be more different. They need to drastically improve pay and working conditions.”