Head of Amazon UK hears from London Assembly member
With two days to go before Christmas, London Assembly member Unmesh Desai wrote to John Boumphrey Amazons UK Country Manager asking for the multinational to engage in talks with GMB Union about pay and conditions.
Amazon has since announced an aggressive reduction of over 18,000 staff worldwide and the effects within the UK are expected to be serious.
GMB London represents a growing number of Amazon workers across London, East of England and the Home Counties and along with all GMB Regions has long campaigned for better pay and better conditions for workers who are treated like robots and whose concerns are ignored by management.
In his letter, London Assembly member Unmesh Desai states the following:
“Amazon’s management continues to refuse to meet with GMB Union as the representatives of the workforce. While Amazon may favour other means of communication, it is working people that decide what bodies represent them to their employers, not the employers themselves. Amazon workers have chosen GMB Union, so it is incumbent on Amazon to engage with them.”
Steve Garelick, GMB London Region Organiser said:
“GMB has much experience representing Amazon workers with great success on an individual basis for grievance and disciplinary matters, the step of long-term engagement and recognition makes sense.
“This is already happening in other countries, so why Amazon UK is putting off the inevitable one can only speculate. It would be foolish of Mr Boumphrey to ignore the demands of Amazon’s UK workforce, an incredibly large workforce that has already demonstrated anger over pay and conditions. These workers have previously withdrawn their labour, and in the case of the Coventry Customer Fulfilment Centre, GMB members have voted for strike action.
“Current attempts by the government to sideline and remove worker protections is perhaps a reason why management at Amazon UK feels that similar behaviour is acceptable. GMB members will, however, show that it is not. ”
For more information please contact Steve Garelick, GMB London Region Organiser on 079 6776 3980.
