// Amazon workers in the UK are planning further strike action as they dismissed as “an insult” a 50p an hour increase to its minimum hourly pay
// Starting salaries will increase to between £11 and £12 an hour from April – but GMB union members want at least £15
Striking Amazon workers in the UK are planning further industrial action after the online giant offered an “insulting” 50p-an-hour increase in base pay for warehouse workers.
On Wednesday Amazon said it will increase the minimum starting salary of its UK workforce by at least 50p to between £11 and £12 per hour from April but employees have dismissed the pay rise as they continue to fight for a minimum of £15.
The company said the pay rise will be implemented this weekend and that the increase in pay is above the legal minimum wage for those aged 23 or over, which rises to £10.42 from April.
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The increase follows a string of strikes by Amazon warehouse staff in Coventry which kicked off in January, with GMB members in the West Midlands calling for at least £15 an hour to help amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
GMB union senior organiser Amanda Gearing said: “We’re listening to Amazon workers and the message is very clear: this new pay rate is an insult.”
“So, in response, we will be consulting over the next few days and announcing a new wave of action.”
The GMB union now has more than 500 members at the Coventry site – up from a few dozen last year.
Striking worker Darren Westwood said: “Nobody believes that the extra 50p per hour we’ve won at Coventry is remotely enough to live on.
“We know we’re worth more – that’s why we will be stepping up the action and appealing to workers in other Amazon sites to join us in the strikes.”
Amazon, which has more than 30 warehouses in the UK, said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages, and we’re pleased to be announcing another increase for our UK operations teams.”
It said workers’ pay had risen by 37% since 2018 and it also “worked hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities”.
At the start of the week, the online giant revealed it would be axing another 9,000 jobs across the company’s cloud services, advertising and Twitch units, following the 18,000 job cuts the business announced in January, as it looks to cut costs
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