Amazon Says GMB Leaflets Could Be a ‘Hazard’ Amid Union-Busting Allegations

Amazon workers in Coventry are moving closer to a historic vote on whether to unionise with the GMB. The legally binding month-long ballot process began this week, but not before Amazon went to farcical lengths to deter its workers from voting in favour of union recognition – even arguing that placing leaflets on tables could cause a “hazard.”

In April, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), an independent statutory body, ruled that a vote should be held at the warehouse on whether workers wanted to unionise. If the vote is successful, it would be the first time Amazon has recognised a trade union in the UK.

Amazon has consistently rejected requests for voluntary recognition at the site, known as BHX4. In June 2023, the GMB was forced to abandon a request for statutory union recognition, with the union accusing Amazon of undertaking a hiring spree to skew the decision.

Despite the CAC granting the GMB permission to hold a ballot at BHX4 back in April, Amazon has spent the past two months stalling the vote by frustrating negotiations over the GMB’s access to workers at the warehouse.

Before the official ballot period can begin, Amazon is required by the CAC to allow “reasonable access to the workers in the bargaining unit” for the GMB, to allow union reps to speak to workers about recognition.

Most access agreements are generalised, covering the dates and times that union organisers will be able to speak to workers.

However, Amazon’s legal team drafted what the GMB have mockingly termed a “War and Peace document” detailing unprecedented restrictions around access.

The CAC said that Amazon’s access proposal contained points which it had “never seen before.”

Stuart Richards, a regional GMB organiser, said: “What should have been a simple discussion on dates and times has ended up in a prolonged legal debate.

“But the reality of the situation is that union activists working in Amazon Coventry are now inside, holding meetings with their colleagues on why they will be voting yes for recognition.”

While the GMB and Amazon were negotiating the access agreement, Amazon was free to continue its anti-union campaign inside the warehouse, including holding mandatory anti-union seminars and posting anti-union posters and leaflets throughout BHX4.

Garfield Hylton, who works at BHX4, said: “Amazon ‘Associates’, as we are referred to, have been bombarded by Amazon since the recognition application was submitted.

“The actual ballot could have been undertaken and concluded in May 2024. The process was slowed down by Amazon wanting to stipulate conditions before the GMB could be given access.”

 As Novara Media previously reported, Amazon has been holding these hour-long anti-union meetings since March. Despite this, during access negotiations the company tried to limit the GMB to 30-minute meetings, arguing that it’s not possible “from a safety, logistical or operational perspective to accommodate meetings of 60 minutes duration.”

Amazon also rejected a proposal by the GMB to post leaflets on each table in the warehouse, arguing that “it could pose a hazard,” despite the fact that Amazon has been posting leaflets on each table in the warehouse.

GMB organisers at the site will be “escorted around the building by an Amazon manager or an Amazon appointed person”, the company has stipulated – although “for the avoidance of doubt any escort will not be present in the designated bathroom.”

Amazon rejected a proposal by the GMB for organisers to sit in the canteen during break periods to answer any one-on-one questions from staff, claiming that it would “breach Amazon’s safety and security protocols.”

The union vote will open in the workplace on 8 July, with the result announced after 15 July.

At last week’s GMB conference, a motion brought by Amazon workers was passed calling for the reform of the CAC process. Speaking at the conference, Amazon worker and GMB member Ceferina Floresca said the situation at BHX4 was a “stark indictment of the inherent weaknesses woven into the very fabric of our statutory recognition scheme.”

Floresca said that the process had shown the “glaring deficiencies that mar the original design of our recognition scheme. It is abundantly clear that the scales of justice have been tipped in the favour of employers.”

In April, the GMB launched a legal challenge against Amazon, accusing the company of trying to induce members to leave the union by running an “American-style anti-union campaign.”

Among the practices cited by the union as inducement are the presence of QR codes throughout the warehouse that once scanned generate an email cancelling union membership.

An Amazon spokesperson said: “Our employees have the choice of whether or not to join a union. They always have. Across Amazon, we place enormous value on having daily conversations and engagement with our employees. It’s a strong part of our work culture. We value that direct relationship and so do our employees.”