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☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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.

☆ 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 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."

☆ ‘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.

☆ UK strikes to continue after govt's talks with unions fail
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kylie Maclellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Teaching unions, who will announce the result of their strike ballots later this week, met with the education minister, while the health minister also spoke to unions representing nurses. The RCN, representing nurses, called the meeting with Barclay "bitterly disappointing". It said there was a long way to go if ministers want to avert nurses strikes scheduled for Jan. 18 and 19. Unions Unite and Unison, both representing health workers, also condemned the government's approach. The government has argued that inflation-matching pay rises will only fuel further price increases and cause interest rates and mortgage payments to go up further.

☆ UK ambulance staff follow nurses in striking over pay
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Ambulances are parked at the Hollymoor Ambulance Hub of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, operated by the West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, in Birmingham, Britain June 5, 2020. Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said the National Health Service (NHS) would prioritize those with life-threatening needs. "Ambulance workers – and the public – deserve better. An independent pay review body has awarded more than 1 million NHS workers a pay rise of at least 1,400 pounds ($1,704), equating to an increase of at least 4% for most ambulance staff, according to the government. The NHS Confederation, which represents national health service organisations, said the strike risked patient safety.

☆ Amazon workers will go on formal strike for the first time in the UK
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Though Amazon workers in the U.K. have previously stopped working in August and on Black Friday in November in protest over the summer pay increase, these were spontaneous, unsanctioned withdrawals of labor. Amanda Gearing, senior organizer at GMB, said the Coventry workers "should be applauded for their grit and determination." It's not too late to avoid strike action; get round the table with GMB to improve the pay and conditions of workers." "This represents a 29 per cent increase in the minimum hourly wage paid to Amazon employees since 2018. In recent weeks, upcoming strike actions have been announced by nurses, rail workers, postal workers, ambulance workers, airport staff, Border Force agents, highway workers, Eurostar staff, civil servants, bus drivers, firefighters, charity workers, meteorologists and offshore workers.

☆ UK Amazon workers at Coventry warehouse vote for strike action - union
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry, central England, have voted to walk out in the new year in a dispute over pay, the union representing the staff said on Friday. "Amazon workers in Coventry have made history - they will be the first ever in the UK to take part in a formal strike," GMB Senior Organiser Amanda Gearing said in a statement. The GMB union said more than 98% of workers voted in favour of strikes on a turnout of over 63%, adding that industrial action would likely take place in the new year. Britain is facing an unprecedented number of strikes across several sectors, including ambulance, transport, nurses and health workers, as workers struggling with surging inflation demand better pay and conditions. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Alistair SmoutOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon warehouse workers in UK vote to go on strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Amazon warehouse workers at a facility in the United Kingdom plan to go on strike, their union confirmed to CNN on Friday, in a move that’s being billed as a first for the company’s workers in the country. The GMB union, which represents workers in a range of industries in the UK, said that hundreds of Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry overwhelmingly voted for the strike, which is expected to take place in the new year. “On top of this, we’re pleased to have announced that full-time, part-time and seasonal frontline employees will receive an additional one-time special payment of up to £500 as an extra thank you.”The move from Amazon workers in the UK also comes as Amazon workers in the United States continue to organize and push for collective bargaining rights. Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, made history earlier this year when they voted to form the first-ever labor union at one of the company’s US facilities. Despite the landmark victory for the worker group, known as the Amazon Labor Union, the company has yet to formally recognize the union or come to the bargaining table.

☆ Factbox: Pay increases reached by UK workers following strike action
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Below is a summary of some of the deals reached following strike action:AIRPORTSIn July, British Airways (ICAG.L) staff at London's Heathrow Airport represented by two unions called off strike action after accepting a new pay offer. Earlier that month the airline's check-in staff at Heathrow airport also suspended a strike after an improved pay deal was agreed. Wage rises were also agreed at bus operators Arriva and Go-Ahead, with Arriva's drivers in Kent securing a 13.92% pay rise in October and Go-Ahead's London workers getting a 10.5% increase. WASTE COLLECTIONWaste collection workers in various areas around the country have agreed pay rises after undertaking strike action which disrupted waste collections. Among agreements reached by the GMB were a 17% rise for some workers in Windsor and Maidenhead, just outside London, and increases of between 8% and 22% for refuse workers in Manchester.

☆ Premarket stocks: Why we think we're in a recession when the data says otherwise
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN Business —It seems like you can’t go anywhere these days without colliding headfirst into another ominous prediction of imminent recession. But hidden behind those “CEO PREDICTS RECESSION” headlines lies a lot of uncertainty. “If I didn’t watch CNBC in the morning, the word ‘recession’ wouldn’t be in my vocabulary,” he said. “You just can’t see it in our data.”It’s almost as though Kirby predicted recession was imminent because other prominent voices predicted that recession was imminent. More than 10,000 ambulance workers represented by the GMB Union will strike again on December 28.

☆ UK strikes to hit ambulance services, hospitals and trains in the run up to Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

More than 10,000 ambulance workers represented by the GMB Union will strike again on December 28. Ambulance workers, like others in the UK National Health Service (NHS), “are on their knees,” according to GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison. According to The Times, one million UK workers are set to strike in December and January. The union said that critical care will be exempt from strike action but non-critical services will have lower staffing levels. The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents 115,000 postal workers, has notified Royal Mail of additional walkouts on December 9, 11, 14 and 15.

☆ Ambulance workers to strike, further disrupting health service in Britain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Farouq Suleiman | Ajose Koilparambil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An NHS logo is displayed outside a hospital in London, Britain May 14, 2017. Britain's state-run National Health Service (NHS) is braced for a wave of unprecedented industrial action this winter, with up to 100,000 nurses due to take strike action on Dec. 15 and 20 for the first time in their union's 100-year history. "No one in the NHS takes strike action lightly, today shows just how desperate they are," GMB National Secretary Rachel Harrison said. The union said it would meet in the coming days to discuss potential strike dates before Christmas. Thousands of health workers, including call handlers and paramedics, represented by the Unison trade union are also set to take industrial action after voting in favour of strikes.

☆ UK strikes: Nearly 200,000 British workers are striking on Black Friday
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Postal workers are planning further strike action for November 30 and December 1, following walkouts in August and September. “Customers should expect delays to items posted just before, during or just after strike action,” Royal Mail said in a statement. Amid worker strikes, Royal Mail vehicles remain parked at the Tonbridge Delivery Office in Kent, England on November 24, 2022. Strike action will also add to losses facing companies and could prompt further job cuts. Royal Mail says it has not yet been formally notified of these dates.

☆ After narrowly avoiding the Retail Apocalypse, many companies are once again at risk of bankruptcy — and these 10 may be next
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

However, the credit rating company said the number of defaults won't reach pandemic level-highs as the industry has "emerged in better shape to meet the growing challenges," analysts wrote in an October report. A clothes shop tries to sell the last of its stock before closing down on February 1, 2012 in Stoke-On-Trent, England. Staffordshire has borne the brunt of the economic downturn with the loss of 21,100 manufacturing jobs which have fallen from 74,200 in 2006/07 to 53,100 in 2010/11, the highest in the UK according to a survey by the GMB union. Christopher Furlong/GettyTheir findings anticipate defaults to rise to 5.5%, up from the current rate of 1%, but still well below 23% in 2020. "As the retail industry squares off for another period of rising defaults over the next 12 months, this time will be markedly different from the last downturn during the pandemic, when defaults skyrocketed," Moody's analysts wrote in the report.

☆ Amazon didn't give its UK warehouse workers a full day off for the Queen's funeral
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Isobel Asher Hamilton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Queen Elizabeth II was given a state funeral on Monday, and many UK workers got the day off. Amazon workers told Insider they had to make up the difference using their personal time off. For some UK workers the time-off was not paid, as reported by Insider's Bethany Dawson. Many Amazon workers work four 10-hour shifts meaning to actually have the day off they'd need to sub in two hours of their personal allotted time off, both workers told Insider. Both workers told Insider warehouse workers had to request the time off, meaning managers had the ability to deny it.

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