Striking Amazon staff say robots in warehouses are 'treated better' than workers

25 January 2023 , 18:15

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Amazon workers striking over pay in Coventry (Image: SWNS)

Amazon staff on strike over pay claim robots in its warehouses “are treated better than us”.

Darren Westwood and Garfield Hilton were among 300 employees who staged the online giant’s first walkout in the UK today.

The row was triggered by last year’s 50p an hour pay rise from the US firm, whose stock market value is almost £800billion.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s richest people, is worth almost £100bn.

Staff at the Coventry site want their minimum wage of around £10.50 a hour to be upped to £15.

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Workers, who scan stock that is sent out to Amazon fulfilment centres to be shipped to consumers, claim they are constantly monitored.

Workers claim robots are treated better than employees (SWNS)

Mr Westwood, 57, said he had a black mark put on his records for being a minute late when logging back on after a 30-minute break.

He told the Mirror: “If we have an injury, it is treated as our own fault.

“If the robots break down, they have a team of engineers who fix them.”

Mr Hilton said he had seen fellow workers falling asleep on the short bus ride to Amazon’s warehouse.

Nazaret Zemuy was among the workers who joined the picket line (SWNS)

Stuart Richards also walked out (SWNS)

He told the BBC: “There’s a huge amount of them in the building virtually in ghost mode.”

Stuart Richards, senior organiser with the GMB union, and Amazon worker Nazaret Zemuy also joined the picket line.

Amazon countered the staff claims, saying its system “recognises great performance”.

The company also said it “encourages coaching to help employees improve if they are not meeting their performance goals”.

Graham Hiscott