UK trade union GMB has revealed that online retailer Amazon’s workers at its new Birmingham fulfilment centre will strike on 25 January 2024.
The £500m ($636m) Birmingham site, which began operations at the end of 2023, will be the third Amazon location in the UK to witness industrial action.
The move comes as workers join the growing movement against what they describe as inadequate pay and working conditions.
GMB has confirmed that employees at the facility will participate in the strike, following 30 days of similar action across the company during 2023.
More than 1,000 workers participated in a strike during Amazon’s high-profile Black Friday event in November.
GMB organiser Rachel Fagan stated: “The industrial chaos Amazon faces isn’t going to disappear; it’s growing every day.
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By GlobalData“We’re just weeks into the new year but are already seeing the strike action spread to new Amazon workplaces.
“For workers to down tools at Amazon’s new Birmingham HQ, just weeks after it opened its doors, goes to show how furious Amazon workers in the UK are. One year on from the first strike day the message from GMB members at Amazon is the same; recognise our union and end poverty pay.”
Despite the planned action, an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters that the strike would lead to “zero disruption” for customers.
The spokesperson said that only 19 out of 2,000 union members at the warehouse voted for the strike.
The company, which has a workforce of 75,000 in the UK, also announced its intention to increase the minimum starting wage to between £12.30 and £13 per hour by April 2024.
Workers at e-commerce giant Amazon Coventry’s warehouse in the UK also planned to strike for four days in February 2024 over pay.