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The Amazon strike – history in the making
PHIL STREET talks to some of the Coventry strikers marking one year of struggle for decent pay against one of the world’s most notorious employers
Members of the GMB union during a rally outside the Amazon fulfilment centre in Coventry as Amazon workers are staging their first ever strike in the UK in a dispute over pay, January 25, 2023.

“EXCITING times!” — the opening words of a conversation I recently had with Darren Westwood, who has become one of the faces and voices of the historic dispute at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Coventry. 

“We’ve shied away from unions for too long. People have been apathetic and feeling a sense of hopelessness.”

This Brummie and son of a squaddie tells me he’s had quite a chequered career, but the strike at Amazon has been a defining moment.

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