Workers at an Amazon warehouse in the UK have gone on strike over a proposed 35 pence an hour pay increase.

As many as a thousand employees from Amazon’s warehouse in Tilbury, southeast England, walked out on the 3rd and 4th of August. They had been seeking a £2 per hour pay increase, but had been anticipating a £1 increase, around 9%.

According to union GMB, the workers were seeking the pay increase to help cope with the cost-of-living crisis.

The wildcat strike started in the Amazon warehouse at around 4pm when employees stopped work to protest.

In addition, workers at two other UK warehouses, in Coventry and Bristol, also walked out in solidarity with the Tilbury workers.

GMB Regional Organiser Steve Garelick 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.”

He added that this marks the first time that Amazon workers in the UK have gone on strike.

Part 1 Amazon response back to worrkers at Tilbury tonight @GMBLondonRegion @WKennyGMB @twgmb @GMBPressOffice @RixyieOrganiser pic.twitter.com/duNuYmJ7A4

— Steve Garelick (@steve_garelick) August 3, 2022

According to Amazon, it offers its workers competitive pay a benefits package, including medical insurance, life assurance, subsidised meals and an employee discount, which it claims to be worth thousands of pounds per year. The company added that it is increasing starting pay for warehouse workers to a minimum £10.50-11.45 per hour depending on the location.

Amazon saw its revenues surge during the pandemic as millions of people around the world were suddenly homebound and had to turn to the internet to shop.

The company had its first-ever $100-billion quarter in the final three months of 2020 when it made $125.6 billion.

And its UK operations for 2020 as a whole saw the company bring in £20 billion, almost double what it made in 2019.

However, since then, the company has followed the same trajectory as many companies that saw their business boom during the pandemic. It suffered its first quarterly loss in the first quarter of this year, losing $3.8bn, largely due to a 3% fall in online sales and rising costs.

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This is despite making $116.4bn in overall sales, 7% more year on year, though growth was slow compared to the first quarter of 2021, when sales increased 44%.

And its latest report said that it brought in total revenue in the third quarter of $121.23bn, 7% more from a year earlier and above the expected $119.09bn.

With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to bite, the UK inflation rate hit 9.4% in June, and has been tipped to increase to over 13% in the coming year.

As such, the expected £1 increase would have barely covered inflation, while the 35p proposed rise would not have covered the increase costing of living.

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