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☆ Uber, Lyft and Deliveroo workers in US and UK plan Valentine’s Day strike
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Thousands of drivers for ride hailing services and food delivery riders in the United States and United Kingdom are planning to strike on Valentine’s Day in disputes over pay and working conditions. Meanwhile, in the UK, a spokesperson for campaign group Delivery Job UK said more than 3,000 food delivery riders were expected to strike for five hours on Wednesday. Riders participating in the strike are primarily Portuguese-speaking and work across multiple platforms, including Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat. “Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, but it should not overshadow our struggle,” it added. The company said GMB, one of Britain’s largest unions, was now able to represent up to 70,000 Uber drivers across the country.

Persons: Uber, “, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, ”, Lyft, DoorDash, GMB Organizations: London CNN, App Workers, DoorDash, Riders, London Locations: United States, United Kingdom, America, East Coast, Midwest, Chicago, Miami

☆ An airline's new policy to ask passengers to weigh themselves voluntarily is criticized for being 'embarrassing' and 'triggering'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Finnair says that weight data helps the safe operation of flights. AdvertisementAn airline’s trial policy to ask passengers to weigh themselves before flights has sparked controversy, with critics saying it could be triggering and embarrassing. Travel journalist Yvette Caster, also interviewed by GB News, called Finnair's move to weigh passengers "fatphobic." Finnair has announced it will begin weighing passengers with their carry-on luggage to better estimate the plane's weight before take-off. Uzbekistan Airlines began weighing passengers for the same reason in 2015.

Persons: Finnair, —, Hayley Hasselhoff, Yvette, Kate Staniforth, ”, Laura Sanders, MailOnline, “ It's Organizations: Service, GB, Travel Republic, Air, Zealand, Korean, Hawaiian Airlines, Uzbekistan Airlines Locations: Finland, British

Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesThe news is a major blow to Port Talbot, a town of about 35,000 people whose economy has been built on the steel industry since the early 1900s. At its height in the 1960s, the Port Talbot steelworks employed around 20,000 people, before cheaper offerings from China and other countries hit production. More than 300,000 people worked in Britain’s steel industry in 1971; by 2021 it was about 26,000. Last year the U.K. government gave Tata up to 500 million pounds ($634 million) to make the Port Talbot steelworks greener. “We saw it with the coal industry and now it is happening again with the steel industry.

Persons: ”, T.V, Narendran, Port, Tata, “, Tata's, Anthony Slaughter Organizations: Tata Steel, Tata, ” Tata Steel, Unions, Port Talbot, Commons Library, Community, Green Party Locations: Port Talbot, Wales, China, Port

☆ Britain’s Largest Steel Mill to Become Greener, at a Cost of Jobs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Stanley Reed | More About Stanley Reed | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Although the announcement was not a surprise, unions representing workers at the plant said they were angry that their proposals to save jobs had been rejected. The plant employs around 4,000 people, and it was unclear how many of the job cuts would take place at Port Talbot; Tata employs around 8,000 people in Britain. Electric steel making, which is more common in the United States than in Europe, tends to employ fewer workers. The government says the shift would ensure that steel making continued at the site and would cut Britain’s overall greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5 percent. The unions expressed skepticism that an electric furnace would be capable of producing metal of sufficient quality for some demanding applications, including automobile body panels and food and beverage cans.

Persons: Tata Organizations: Port Talbot, Tata, Tata Steel, steelworkers, Community Locations: Port, Britain, United States, Europe

☆ Amazon protests in Europe target warehouses, lockers on busy Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

On Black Friday, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, many retailers slash prices to boost sales. More than 1,000 workers at Amazon's warehouse in Coventry, England, will strike on Friday, according to trade union GMB, as part of a long-running dispute over pay. Many Amazon shoppers use its lockers, which are located in train stations, supermarket car parks, and street corners, to receive their orders. Attac, which calls Black Friday a "celebration of overproduction and overconsumption", said it expects the protest to be wider than last year, when it estimates 100 Amazon lockers across France were targeted. "Make Amazon Pay", a global campaign coordinated by UNI Global Union, said strikes and protests would take place in more than 30 countries from Black Friday through to Monday.

Persons: Pascal, Amazon's, Verdi, CGIL, CCOO, Helen Reid, James Davey, Matthias Inverardi, Elisa Anzolin, Corina Pons, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Workers, U.S, Amazon, GMB, Trade, Amazon's, Castel, UNI Global Union, Thomson Locations: Boves, France, Europe, U.S, Germany, Bad Hersfeld, Dortmund, Koblenz, Leipzig, Amazon's, Coventry , England, London, Castel San Giovanni, Black, Dusseldorf, Milan, Madrid

☆ Amazon faces Black Friday strikes and protests on 'Make Amazon Pay' day
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon workers at a UK warehouse are striking on one of the retailer's busiest days, Black Friday. AdvertisementSome Amazon workers in the UK have gone on strike this Black Friday in what a union called the largest day of industrial disruption in the company's 30-year history. The online retail giant also faces action and protests in the US, France, Germany and dozens of other countries as part of a day of action called "Make Amazon Pay." The union will also hold a demonstration in support of the striking workers outside Amazon's UK headquarters in London. Gearing said Friday's strikes would be "the largest day of industrial disruption in Amazon's 30-year history."

Persons: —, Christy Hoffman, Jacob King Organizations: Service, UNI Global Union, UNI, Amazon, Business, Guardian Locations: US, France, Germany, Coventry, England, London

☆ UK inflation has halved this year but economic growth remains elusive
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —UK inflation plunged to its lowest level in two years in October, allowing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to declare victory on his pledge to halve the rate of price increases this year. Services inflation fell but remained high, at 6.6%. “The UK economy is still very much facing stagflation and, in our view, the road ahead will likely continue to be bumpy,” said Julien Lafargue, chief market strategist at Barclays Private Bank. Stagflation refers to a toxic mix of high inflation and low, or no, economic growth. There is also evidence that higher interest rates are placing an increasing strain on the economy.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, “, ” Sunak, Gary Smith, GMB, ”, Andrew Bailey, Alex Veitch, Sunak’s, —, Julien Lafargue, ” Ewan Mackay, Jeremy Hunt, Veitch Organizations: London CNN —, National Statistics, Bank of England, Chambers of Commerce, “, Barclays Private Bank, NatWest, Accenture, P, British Chambers of Commerce Locations: United Kingdom, Ireland, British

☆ Workers at Amazon UK warehouse to walk out on Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

People take part in a rally in support of Amazon workers' on strike, outside the Amazon warehouse, in Coventry, Britain, January 25, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 workers at an Amazon (AMZN.O) warehouse in Britain will strike for four days next month in a dispute over pay, including on the Black Friday discount shopping day, the GMB trade union said on Tuesday. GMB said the workers would walk out of the site in Coventry, central England from Nov. 7-9, as well as Black Friday on Nov. 24. Reporting by Sarah Young, writing by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Sachin RavikumarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Henry Nicholls, GMB, Sarah Young, Farouq Suleiman, Sachin Ravikumar Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Coventry, Britain, England

☆ Amazon hikes pay in the UK, plans to hire 15,000 seasonal workers ahead of the holidays
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Amazon is planning to hike pay for its operations workers in the U.K. and add 15,000 new staff ahead of the holidays, as the e-commerce giant prepares itself for a wave of demand ahead of Christmas. The pay increase extends to part-time, temporary and seasonal roles, as well as full-time positions, and will come into effect from Oct. 15. Meanwhile, more than 15,000 additional seasonal workers will be hired at Amazon sites across the U.K., the company said. Amazon also says this means that minimum starting pay in its U.K. operations will have increased by 20% in two years, or 50% since 2018. "Amazon has spent millions fighting their own workers over union rights and fair pay," Rachel Fagan, a GMB organizer, said in a statement Monday.

Persons: Amazon, John Boumphrey, Rachel Fagan Organizations: Amazon, GMB Union Locations: Amazon's U.K

“This proposal is a landmark moment for maintaining ongoing U.K. steel production, supporting sustainable economic growth, cutting emissions and creating green jobs,” said Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt. “With the support of the U.K. government and dedicated efforts of the employees of Tata Steel U.K. along with all stakeholders, we will work to transform Tata Steel UK into a green, modern, future-ready business," said Tata Steel’s chief executive and managing director, TV Narendran. Unions were furious about the potential job losses at Port Talbot, which at its height in the 1960s employed around 20,000 people, before cheaper offerings from around the world hit production. "The cost to local people and the wider Port Talbot community will be immense," said Gary Smith, general secretary of the GMB trade union. He noted that Germany has invested over $53 billion in decarbonising heavy industry and has committed to work with unions and protect jobs.

Persons: ”, Jeremy Hunt, Tata, Gary Smith, “, Luke Murphy Organizations: Tata, Britain’s Department for Business, Trade, “, Tata Steel, Tata Steel UK, Unions, Port Talbot, Institute for Public Policy Research Locations: Port Talbot, Wales, steelmaking, Britain, Germany

☆ All of UK retailer Wilko's stores to shut, with over 9,000 job losses
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A branch of the discount retail homeware store Wilko is seen in Altrincham, Britain, September 11, 2023. PwC confirmed that 124 Wilko stores were set to close by Sept. 21, while the timing for the closure of the remaining 222 stores has yet to be announced. Some job losses in addition to those set out on Monday had been announced in recent weeks. Earlier this month London-listed retailer B&M (BMEB.L) struck a deal to buy 51 Wilko stores for up to 13 million pounds ($16.26 million). "Wilko should have thrived in a bargain retail sector that is otherwise strong, but it was run into the ground by the business owners."

Persons: Molly Darlington, PwC, Wilko, Doug Putman, Nadine Houghton, James Davey, Muvija, Sachin Ravikumar, Paul Sandle, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, HMV, Thomson Locations: Altrincham, Britain, Leicester, England, Wilko, London

☆ Some of UK retailer Wilko's stores set to close after no buyer found
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A branch of the discount retail homeware store Wilko is seen in London, Britain, August 3, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Some of British homeware and household goods discount retailer Wilko's stores are likely to close after a buyer could not be found for the whole group, administrator PWC said on Wednesday. PWC said that contrary to an earlier statement from the GMB trade union, there were no plans to close stores next week and they would continue to remain open and trade "in the immediate term". The family-owned retailer said earlier this month it had fallen into administration, putting its 400 stores and 12,500 jobs in danger if a buyer could not be found. Sky News reported the owner of fellow discount store Poundland, Pepco Group, was in discussions to acquire round 100 Wilko stores, while London-listed discount chain B&M European Retail could take on 40-50 shops.

Persons: Toby Melville, PWC, Kylie MacLellan, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Sky News, Pepco, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Leicester, England

☆ Wilko: 12,000 jobs at risk as UK discount chain on brink of collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Britain’s Wilko, a discount retail chain which sells homeware and household goods, is at risk of collapse after it filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on Thursday, putting 12,000 jobs on the line if no buyer can be found. The retailer could be one of the first major victims of Britain’s tougher economy, after consecutive interest rates rises that started in December 2021. “This is extremely concerning,” the GMB union, which represents about 4,000 workers at Wilko, said in a statement. “Wilko’s staff deserve reassurance that their jobs are safe.”Wilko’s Chief Executive Mark Jackson said he hoped the privately-held retailer would be bought. Wilko operates from 400 stores across the UK, where it competes with rivals such as B&M (BMRRY), and has an annual turnover of 1.2 billion pounds ($1.5 billion).

Persons: Britain’s, Wilko, “, Mark Jackson, “ We’ll, ” Locations: Wilko

☆ Amazon workers at two UK fulfilment centres to strike in August
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Britain's GMB trade union said on Thursday more than a thousand workers at two Amazon (AMZN.O) fulfilment centres in England would take strike action in early August in an ongoing pay dispute. "This industrial action will spread further: it’s clear the fight for workers’ rights at Amazon is only just beginning,” GMB Senior Organiser Rachel Fagan said in a statement. Workers in Rugeley will walk out on Aug. 3-4 and staff in Coventry will take action on Aug. 4-5, the union said. "In less than a year, our minimum pay has risen by 10% and by more than 37% since 2018," an Amazon spokesperson said. In June, the union said Amazon workers in Coventry, who had previously staged a series of walkouts since January, had voted in favour of six more months of industrial action.

Persons: ” GMB, Rachel Fagan, Amazon, Prerna Bedi, Helen Reid, Farouq Suleiman, Kylie MacLellan Organizations: Amazon, Workers, Thomson Locations: England, Rugeley, Coventry

☆ Amazon workers at UK warehouse to strike for three days in July
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Anirudh Saligrama | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 8 (Reuters) - Nearly 900 Amazon (AMZN.O) workers at a warehouse in Britain will stage a strike for three days in the coming week over a pay dispute, labour union GMB said on Saturday. It coincides with a "Prime Day" sales event the company has announced for July 11-12. Last month, the union said that the Coventry warehouse workers had voted for six more months of strikes. The workers also went on strike last month from June 12-14. Amazon is expected to record about $7 billion in revenue from its Prime Day sales, an increase of 12% from what was disclosed for Prime Day during the third quarter last year, according to JPMorgan.

Persons: GMB, Rachel Fagan, RMT, Anirudh Organizations: Reuters, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Britain, Amazon's, Coventry, Bengaluru

GMB's backing means the offer has been accepted by four unions representing National Health Service (NHS) workers whose members include midwives, physiotherapists and ambulance workers. The NHS Staff Council, which includes representatives from NHS employers and trade unions, is due to meet on May 2 to vote on whether to accept the offer. The GMB's leadership said it would now vote in favour of the pay offer, after 56% of its members who voted in a ballot accepted the deal. "This new pay offer would not have happened without the strike action taken by ambulance and other GMB health workers," said Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary. "Our members recognise that progress has been made - from the government originally offering nothing, health workers will be thousands of pounds better off."

☆ UK Amazon workers to strike for six days in April
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry, England are to hold six more days of strikes in April in a dispute over pay, a statement from the GMB union said on Friday. Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by William JamesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon raises hourly pay for UK workers by 50 pence; union mulls more strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The pay rise comes less than a week after hundreds of workers at an Amazon warehouse in Coventry in central England staged the latest walkout in a dispute over pay this year. "We're listening to Amazon workers and the message is very clear: this new pay rate is an insult," said Amanda Gearing, senior organiser of GMB, the union which represents more than 500 Amazon workers. The union had said the Amazon Coventry workers are demanding 15 pounds an hour to cope with a cost-of-living crisis that has sparked strikes across sectors in Britain over the last several months. The new increase, which will depend on locations and start from April, comes after Amazon last year raised UK hourly wages by 50 pence to between 10.50 and 11.45 pounds per hour. "Over the past seven months, our minimum pay has risen by 10% and by more than 37% since 2018," Amazon said in a statement.

☆ British union suspends ambulance strikes for talks with government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - Britain's Unite trade union said on Sunday it had suspended ambulance worker strikes planned for March 6 and 8 in order to enter into pay talks with the government. The move by Unite follows the announcement on Friday by two other trade unions, GMB and Unison, that they had also paused national ambulance strikes in order to hold talks in a months-long dispute over pay. "Following further assurances from the government over the weekend Unite has in good faith agreed to pause the strike action," Unite head of operations Gail Cartmail said. "If the meeting doesn't meet these assurances strike action will resume," Cartmail added in a statement. Unite said the assurances related to confirmation that any deal would include new money, rather than putting pressure on existing budgets.

☆ Britain faces largest ever healthcare strikes as pay disputes drag on
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Sachin Ravikumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Unfortunately, we've been seeing a situation with the ambulance unions where they refuse to provide that information," he said. Ambulance workers have denied Shapps' allegation. Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite union, told the BBC on Sunday she wanted Sunak to come to the negotiating table, accusing the government of lying about ambulance workers. Not all ambulance workers will strike at once and emergency calls will be attended to. In Wales, nurses and some ambulance workers have called off strikes planned for Monday as they review pay offers from the Welsh government.

☆ Factbox: Britain on strike: Which workers are walking out on Feb. 1 and Feb. 6?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Healthcare workers are also taking coordinated action on Feb. 6 for the first time, in what is set to be the biggest day of action in Britain's state-funded National Health Service. TEACHERSTeachers from the National Education Union in England and Wales will take the first of several days of strike action, impacting 23,400 schools. GOVERNMENT STAFFMore than 100,000 workers from the PCS union in government departments and public bodies will take part in a one-day strike. The GMB said more than 10,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales, including paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers, will strike on Feb. 6, Feb. 20, March 6 and March 20. Unite said ambulance workers in England would walk out on Feb. 6, Feb. 17, Feb. 20, Feb. 22, Mar.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers at Coventry walk out over pay in UK first
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Muvija M | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid./File Photo/File PhotoLONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) workers at a warehouse in central England will walk out on Wednesday in a months-long wrangle over pay, marking the first time the U.S. tech giant's operations in Britain have faced strike action. About 300 employees in Coventry are expected to take part in the industrial action, according to the trade union GMB. Amazon increased starting pay by 50 pence to a minimum of between 10.50 and 11.45 pounds ($12.95 to $14.12) per hour last year. The country's minimum wage, which is currently 9.50 pounds an hour, is set to rise to 10.42 in April. Amazon, which employs thousands of workers across its 30 warehouses in the UK, had then responded to say its pay was competitive.

☆ ‘Robots are treated better’: Amazon warehouse workers stage first-ever strike in the UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon workers are going on strike in Britain, in a move that marks the first formal industrial action in the country for the U.S. tech giant. But warehouse workers say it fails to match the rising cost of living. Amazon workers have raised concerns about long working hours, high injury rates, and the unrelenting pace of work, as well as aggressive, tech-enhanced monitoring of employees. A spokesperson for the tech giant told CNBC in a statement that the staff involved represent "only a fraction of 1% of our UK employees." The spokesperson said that pay for Amazon's U.K. warehouse workers has increased 29% since 2018, and pointed to a £500 one-time payment made out to staff to help with the cost-of-living crisis.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers walk out in first UK strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Amazon workers at a warehouse in central England went on strike Wednesday, the first time employees of the US tech giant have walked out in the country. Workers are asking for £15 ($18.49) an hour, which the GMB union said would be in line with pay at Amazon in the United States. Starting pay for warehouse workers in the United States averages over $19 an hour after the company’s latest raise in September. The strike comes as employees in the United States continue to organize and push for collective bargaining rights. Amazon has refused to formally recognize or bargain with the Amazon Labor Union, which was recently certified by regulators.

☆ A striking Amazon warehouse worker says the company treats its robots better than its human staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An Amazon warehouse worker told the BBC the company's robots are treated better than human staff. Around 300 of the 1,000 workers at an Amazon warehouse in the UK began a strike over pay Wednesday. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyA striking Amazon warehouse worker has said the company treats its robots better than its human staff. "I wish we were treated like robots because the robots are treated better than us," Darren Westwood, who works at an Amazon warehouse in Coventry, UK, told BBC Breakfast in an interview that aired Wednesday. A spokesperson for Amazon told Insider that a "tiny proportion" of its workforce was involved in the industrial action, adding that the company was "proud to offer competitive pay."

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