The TUC has insisted that the battle for union recognition at Amazon will continue, after workers at the US retailer’s Coventry warehouse rejected the right to collective bargaining by a majority of just 29 votes.
In a historic vote that could have forced Amazon to recognise a union for the first time in the UK, 50.5% of workers who voted decided to reject the proposal to have the GMB union represent them. If 15 of them had changed sides, the situation would have been totally different.
“Amazon has done everything it can to prevent workers from having an independent voice at work,” said TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. “This is not the end. Our movement will regroup and continue to expose bad employers.”
Union officials said Amazon had “created a culture of fear” and used intimidation tactics to stifle support among the 3,000 workers at the West Midlands hub after a battle for recognition that lasted more than a year.
GMB activists were allowed into the warehouse to make their case at strictly scheduled meetings in the run-up to the vote, while managers used a series of separate briefings to argue against recognition.
Stuart Richards, a senior union leader at GMB, said the union would consider taking legal action. “From day one, Amazon has been relentless in its attacks on its own workforce. We have seen workers pressured to attend six hours of anti-union seminars, on top of the fortune Amazon bosses have spent to scare workers away,” he added.
In April, the independent Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) granted workers the right to hold a binding vote, following a campaign by GMB. Amazon had rejected a request for voluntary recognition. The voting process was overseen by independent assessors, appointed by the CAC.
Had staff voted to support recognition, the GMB would have had the right to represent them in negotiations over pay and conditions in what would have been the first instance of Amazon recognising a union in the UK.
It would also have been the first time that workers at the online retailer had been given the right to be recognized outside the United States.
Richards said workers had been told they would get no pay rise this year and would lose benefits if they voted to recognise the union. “This kind of anti-union action has no place in 21st century Britain – Amazon clearly cannot be trusted to toe the line that every other UK company is expected to follow,” he said.
“But this is just the beginning. Amazon now faces a legal challenge, while the fire set by workers in Coventry and across the UK continues to burn.”
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Callum Cant, a senior lecturer at the University of Essex who studies the gig economy, said: “Amazon’s anti-union stance has been successful in this case, but the underlying antagonisms around work intensity and pay that sparked this dispute are still very much alive.”
Under current rules, a union cannot reapply for recognition for the same group of workers for three years after losing a vote. The Labour government has said it will make the process of gaining recognition easier as part of its new deal for workers, but it is unclear whether the changes will help Amazon’s case.
Amazon said: “We want to thank everyone who voted in this vote. At Amazon, we place a huge value on direct engagement with our employees and daily conversations with them. It’s an essential part of our work culture. We value that direct relationship and so do our employees.
“That’s why we’ve always worked hard to listen to them, act on their feedback and invest heavily in good pay, benefits and skills development – all in a safe and inclusive workplace with excellent career opportunities.”
