I'm a union organiser in Coventry. Here's how Amazon's 'union busting' works

Walking in to the Amazon warehouse in Coventry, you are faced with a parade of bright, primary colour signage of happy, cartoon “Amazon Associates”. It comes with a stark backdrop of security fencing, barbed wire and CCTV surveillance.

It’s a pretty accurate metaphor for the Amazon experience.

Amazon’s PR spins the line that the company engages with workers and has “always worked hard to listen to them, act on their feedback, and invest heavily in great pay, benefits and skills development – all in a safe and inclusive workplace with excellent career opportunities.”

Workers say the reality is very different. Since the site opened, workers at Coventry have lost benefits and seen their pay fall below inflation.

Workers are constantly tracked by an AI system on how fast they locate, scan and box. They won’t necessarily know what their target is, but they know that they will receive a warning if their performance doesn’t hit it. They also know that three warnings can lead to a dismissal.

While the conditions inside the warehouse are a source of anger, it was the issue of pay that lit the spark of protests. In the summer of 2022, workers in Amazon warehouses walked out after another poor pay rise.

GMB Union gave the workers in Coventry a legal route to continue their protests. The union helped workers to take the first strike action at a UK Amazon warehouse. There have now been 37 days of industrial action, but Amazon has refused to listen.

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By the end of April 2023, the workers at Coventry had managed build a union of 718 GMB members at the warehouse. Amazon had confirmed in December 2022 that there were 1,400 workers at the site in the busy period of December 2022. This would have meant that over 50% were members of the union, a legal threshold that could see the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) force the company to recognise the union for collective bargaining. GMB Union made an application to the CAC.

Amazon responded by employing over 1,300 workers at the site. With a massively increased workforce, the union was forced to withdraw the application.

The workers at Coventry continued to build their union. With around 40 elected workplace leaders helping to organise workers, the union grew to around 1,200 by March 2024 and GMB submitted another application to the CAC.

Of course, the number of workers employed by Amazon had continued to grow along with the number of union members. By the time Amazon responded to the application, the number of workers had risen to just over 3,000. The number of union members was not over 50%, but the union passed a threshold of 10%. Based on the evidence presented, the CAC panel also determined that they believed the majority of workers were likely to favour union recognition. The CAC put the decision in the hands of workers. They would now get the chance to vote on union recognition.

Across the world, Amazon has spent a huge amount of time and resources trying to prevent workers from organising. It runs global monitoring projects and hires union-busting consultants with the specific aim of preventing workers from creating a union voice in their workplace. In the US in 2022, the company had to declare spending of $14.2 million (£11m) on anti-union consultants. Amazon management followed this pattern in Coventry.

Over the next few months, the site was transformed with anti-union posters, display screens and pop-up displays. Many displayed a QR code that would automatically generate an email from workers’ phones to cancel their union membership.

Workers were pushed to attend up to seven management briefings. They were lectured for around an hour on why they shouldn’t vote for union recognition.

Managers were brought in from other sites to support the anti-union campaign and to target workers in one-to-one conversations.

Rumours were spread of the site’s closure or loss of overtime. Workers were told that union recognition could lead to no pay rise this year and the loss of even more benefits.

Amazon’s response was unrelenting. It appeared to be an ideological reaction that had little, if any, financial constraints.

Despite this, the union campaign continued. Inside the warehouse, union briefings were held for around 2,500 Amazon workers. They got to listen to one of the workplace leaders talk about why they joined the union and why they think union recognition would make Amazon a better and safer place to work. The leaders’ messages were also displayed on three screens in the warehouse.

The results of the ballot were finally announced on 17 July. 49.5% had voted for union recognition. The vote had lost by just 28.

Darren Westwood, one of the original workplace leaders, summed up the response of union members: “Amazon spent millions on stopping us. We pushed a multi-trillion company to fight dirty and we bloodied their nose. Just use your anger frustration and strength to unite once more. You are on the right side of history so lift those heads and go again.”

It is clear that the union members are not ready to give up. Coventry workers have now met with Gary Smith, the general secretary of GMB, to talk about the continuing fight for decent pay and a unionised Amazon.

The first step has already taken place, with GMB lodging a legal claim against Amazon for the union-busting QR code. The fight goes on.

Stuart Richards is a Senior Organiser for GMB Midlands

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