GMB Union has filed legal proceedings against Amazon in response to what it claims is the company’s latest anti-union drive.
The union claims the ecommerce giant has engaged in widespread attempts to coerce its staff members to cancel their trade union memberships.
According to GMB, Amazon workers can formally lodge a claim against their own employer for encouraging them to pass up their trade union and collective bargaining rights under what is known as an Inducement claim.
GMB senior organiser Amanda Gearing said: “This is a company out of control. Amazon is a multi-billion-pound corporation, doing everything in its power to stop minimum wage workers from forming a union.
“Their latest American-style anti-union campaign proves they will stop at nothing to beat the rules that every other employer in the UK is expected to follow.”
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She continued: “It’s desperate measures and goes someway to show why Amazon workers as so determined to win the union recognition they deserve.”
The challenge comes days after GMB won a formal recognition ballot at the company, which requires the union to prove they had met a threshold of members in the company’s Coventry fulfilment centre.
The recoginition now means the ecommerce giant will have to sit down with GMB on matters related to pay, hours and holidays, making it the first time this has been achieved anywhere in the world outside the US.
GMB’s claims against Amazon include that the company has:
- Pressured staff to leave the union, with company bosses having erected QR codes in Amazon fulfilment centres which generate an email to the union’s membership department requesting that membership is cancelled.
- Forced workers to attend hour long anti-union seminars, led by senior company managers, which forced staff to listen to anti-union messages on work time.
- Displayed anti-union messages throughout Amazon workplaces, including on billboards and screens.
- Bullied and intimidated union representatives amongst Amazon staff.
Amazon has denied the claims and said the information meetings are “entirely voluntary” to help employees make an informed decision. It added that it had provided QR codes for the workers who said they wish to cancel their union membership.
A spokesperson told Retail Gazette: “We agree that everyone has the right to choose to join a union, and that everyone also has the right to leave a union if they choose.
“Our employees told us how difficult it was to cancel their union membership so we provided information to help, through signs that always state that it’s an employee’s personal choice.
“Additionally, it is made clear to employees that attendance at meetings is entirely their choice too. We have received no notification of legal action and do not believe there is any merit in such a case.”
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