It was 6am and raining hard when I arrived at the picket line outside Amazon’s Coventry warehouse. Despite the weather, hundreds of workers were gathering on either side of the road in an industrial estate on the city’s outskirts. When I chatted to them, they told hopeful stories of how a pay rise and union recognition could improve their lives. Now, one year and 37 days of strike action later, their campaign for union recognition has suffered a serious setback. Last week, they found out that they have lost an election that would have seen the union GMB recognised by Amazon for collective bargaining for the first time in the UK.
The margin of defeat was razor-thin: only 0.5%. Amazon’s anti-union stance in the UK has been maintained by a handful of votes. The company had to use every trick in its extensive union-busting playbook to secure the result.
