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A bid to force Amazon to recognise a union for the first time in the UK has failed after a ballot at its Coventry warehouse fell just short of a majority.
The GMB union said 49.5 per cent of 2,600 workers who voted at the site near the West Midlands city had backed union recognition, but the narrow miss means it will now have to wait three years before it can hold a new vote.
The result is a blow to the union’s attempt to gain a foothold in the ecommerce giant, which has waged a long-running battle to prevent its employees organising in both the US and in its global operations.
If the ballot had passed, it would have been the first time a union had won the right to bargain directly with Amazon in its European operations. The company has so far given workers a seat at the table only in countries such as France or Italy, where it is obliged to do so by law.
The GMB said the result was “agonising” but that it would pursue an ongoing legal challenge against Amazon for “pressuring” workers to cancel their union membership ahead of the ballot by leaving QR codes around the building that would generate an automatic email to the GMB.
“This kind of union-busting has no place in 21st-century Britain. It’s clear Amazon cannot be trusted to play by the rules,” said Stuart Richards, senior organiser at the GMB, adding: “This is just the beginning.”
Amazon said the company had pointed employees towards government guidance and supplied information to “assist” them as people had reported difficulties in cancelling their union membership.
The company also rejected claims by the GMB that it had put pressure on workers to attend seminars where they were “bombarded” with anti-union messages, and had told staff they would miss out on a pay rise and other benefits if they voted for recognition.
Attendance at meetings was “entirely voluntary”, Amazon’s spokesperson said, adding that it was important for employees to have “a full understanding of what union recognition would mean” before they voted.
Amazon said direct engagement with employees was “an essential part of our work culture” and was valued by both the company and employees.
“We’ve always worked hard to listen to them, act on their feedback and invest heavily in great pay, benefits and skills . . . We look forward to continuing on that path with our team in Coventry,” the spokesperson said.
Amazon has long come under scrutiny for its treatment of workers — including most recently in a report published by the US senator Bernie Sanders, accusing the company of “abysmal” safety practices and “horrendous” working conditions.
Amazon on Wednesday published a rebuttal of Sanders’ claims and a defence of its record on safety, which it said was a “top priority”.
The GMB has been working for more than a decade to build its membership within Amazon, initially at a different site in Rugeley, which closed last year. It gained traction at the Coventry warehouse after unofficial strikes broke out at the site in 2022.
