AMAZON’s unprecedented union-busting has exposed the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) as “toothless” and “not fit for purpose,” the GMB conference was told today.

The retail giant flooded its warehouses with extra workers last year to prevent the union achieving the 50 per cent threshold for automatic recognition, delegates heard.

The committee was criticised for allowing Amazon months to address this abuse, instead of freezing the employee head count at the beginning of the union recognition process.

Amazon delegate Ceferina Floresca moved a motion calling on GMB to urge a Labour government to introduce a new recognition framework based on employer neutrality, banning companies from campaigning against union recognition.

She said: “It’s abundantly clear that the scales of justice have been dipped in favour of employers, granting them advantages at the expense of worker rights and dignity.”

Seconding, Garfield Hylton said: “The CAC has show that it’s not fit for purpose.”

The motion was referred back for its scope to be broadened and for adjustments in line with Labour’s New Deal for Working People proposals.