{"id":64660,"date":"2022-10-20T16:37:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-20T16:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/10\/20\/amazon-workers-fail-to-reach-strike-threshold-in-historic-uk-ballot\/"},"modified":"2022-10-20T16:37:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T16:37:03","slug":"amazon-workers-fail-to-reach-strike-threshold-in-historic-uk-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/10\/20\/amazon-workers-fail-to-reach-strike-threshold-in-historic-uk-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon workers fail to reach strike threshold in historic UK ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first-ever vote to strike at a UK Amazon warehouse site fell short of the legal threshold for industrial action. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to the GMB union, it was missed by only three votes, although 99% of the participants supported the action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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UK law states that at least 50% of voting members must do so for strike votes to be valid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Amazon said it has increased salaries and offered a “comprehensive benefits package” to Coventry staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some workers at the city’s Lyon’s Park site engaged in informal protests earlier this year after an “offensive” salary offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAmazon workers are angry. This is just a stepping stone on their journey in the 15lb an hour battle,” said the union’s Amanda Gearing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“GMB is now speaking to local activists to outline how we are taking this fight forward,” she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The union said it had long campaigned for official recognition of the online retail giant as a way to improve the company’s record on health and safety issues, a move backed by Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Speaking to delegates at the TUC Congress in Brighton, he said the online retailer should have a “unionised workforce”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Amazon says its wage offer, which starts at a minimum of between \u00a310.50 and \u00a311.45 an hour, represents a “29 per cent increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon workers since 2018”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“In addition, employees are offered comprehensive benefits worth thousands more, including private health insurance, life insurance, subsidized meals and an employee discount.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Seasonal workers would also soon receive an additional one-off payment of up to \u00a3500 “as an extra thank you”, the company said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Follow BBC West Midlands on <\/i>Facebook, <\/i>Twitter<\/a> and <\/i>Instagram. Submit your story ideas to: <\/i>newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk<\/p>\n<\/div>\n