OUTSOURCED cleaners at an Amazon warehouse in Kent are set to become the first British workers at a site run by the US-owned online giant to win union recognition, the United Voices of the World (UVW) said today.
The union said the staff, employed by Worcestershire-based contractor Phosters to service the site in Dartford, have won a historic concession from bosses to negotiate a voluntary recognition deal after they began balloting for strikes over pay.
The groundbreaking development follows calls for Amazon to officially recognise the GMB union as its members continue their landmark industrial action in Coventry.
The walkouts — the first in Britain to hit the mega-rich transnational — could be set to spread after the union announced last week that workers at further Amazon sites in Mansfield and Rugeley are due to vote on whether to down tools following a derisory 50p an hour wage offer.
UVW general secretary Petros Elia welcomed the recognition talks and repeated his demand for an hourly wage of no less than £11.95.
Amazon reported an eye-watering turnover of £372 billion in 2021, while Phosters’s parent company raked in £56 million, according to the union.
Mr Elia said: “We all know that companies like Amazon make billions and use companies like Phosters to avoid giving cleaners the already meagre terms and conditions as their in-house workers.
“Shareholders and directors all benefit financially from this arrangement while the cleaners who keep their lucrative operations running 24/7 struggle to get by on poverty wages.”
Amazon claims that it “works hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities” for its directly employed staff.
