More Than Half of UK Amazon Workers Have to Borrow Money to Make Ends Meet

Over half of UK Amazon workers have to borrow money to make ends meet, a new GMB report has found.

The news comes on Black Friday, as thousands of Amazon workers in more than 20 countries protest and strike for better workers’ rights.

Coordinated by the Make Amazon Pay campaign, workers gathered this morning outside Amazon’s Bishopsgate headquarters to demand the US corporate giant share out its vast profits. The protest will be followed by a march to parliament, where a petition with over 111,000 signatures calling on the government to close tax loopholes exploited by large multinationals like Amazon will be handed in.

The GMB report highlights the discrepancy between the gigantic profits made by the online retailer on one of the busiest shopping days of the year and the reality of the lives of the warehouse staff who make orders possible. It found that close to 80% of Amazon workers reported struggling to keep up with day-to-day expenses, with 15% of Amazon workers – around 12,000 people – relying on foodbanks.

In July, workers at an Amazon Coventry warehouse narrowly voted against union recognition following a concerted campaign of union-busting by the retailer. A handful of workers have since launched a legal challenge over the union-busting in the run up to the vote, which saw Amazon create a “one-click to quit the union” QR code that it promoted throughout the warehouse.

The report forms part of a pay claim submitted by the GMB to the retailer for £17 an hour. The union says that this figure builds on the £15 an hour demanded by workers in the 2022 pay claim, taking inflation into account.

Amanda Gearing, a GMB senior organiser, said: “Amazon workers face long and gruelling shifts, often in workplaces that fall short on basic safety standards. These findings should be a wakeup call for decision makers.

“Despite all the attempts to paint Amazon as a force for good, the company’s reputation is on the floor over its treatment of workers. Amazon is one of the world’s wealthiest corporations, it’s not right that their UK staff are being forced to endure this. That’s why we’ve launched our call for £17 an hour at Amazon this Black Friday.”

In September, the retailer announced a pay rise for its employees, taking the minimum pay rate to between £13.50 and £14.50 an hour depending on location. The GMB said that the move was “too little too late,” and that Amazon had been “forced to act by workers’ industrial action”.

Last year’s Black Friday saw striking workers in Coventry joined by trade unionists from across the world. One American Amazon worker visiting the Midlands warehouse said: “This isn’t just a US fight, this is a global fight.”