Now Amazon workers are on strike! Logistics center workers in Coventry will go on strike on January 25th

The first-ever strike by British workers at online giant Amazon is set to take place later this month, it has been announced.

Members of the GMB union, based in a Coventry warehouse, are set to drop out in a wage dispute on January 25 after voting for an industrial action.

Amanda Gearing, GMB chief organiser, said: “Amazon workers in Coventry will make history on January 25 by becoming the first ever Amazon workers in the UK to go on strike.

“They have shown they are willing to put themselves at risk to fight for what is right.

Members of the GMB union, based at the Amazon warehouse in Coventry (pictured), are set to drop out tomorrow in a dispute over pay

“But people who work for one of the most valuable companies in the world shouldn’t have to threaten to go on strike just to get a living wage.

“GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to give workers a decent raise and avoid industrial action.”

Warehouse workers for Amazon are currently being hired for wages of £10.75 an hour, which equates to almost £21,000 a year for those working 37.5 hours a week. Employees also have the opportunity to work overtime.

Amazon has been contacted for comment.

The Amazon workers’ strike comes amid a winter of discontent as Brits brace themselves for one of the country’s most destructive strike days tomorrow.

Only one in ten trains will run on “Tragic Thursday”, forcing commuters to endure the worst workweek strike day in decades.

Tomorrow’s strike is compounded by the strike by 21,000 workers from Aslef, in addition to the ongoing RMT strikes on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this week – with few drivers expected to cross the picket lines.

Insiders say it’s the biggest disruption to commuters since the days of British Rail, reports The Telegraph.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper insisted to union leaders that “there is no bottomless pit for taxpayers’ money”.

He said: “Taxpayers have made huge investments in the railway industry in recent years when it was hit hard by the pandemic when people were not travelling.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper insisted to union leaders that “there is no bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money”.

“I think you need to have an offer that’s both fair to the people who work in the industry and fair to the taxpayer who foots the bill.”

The Center for Economics and Business Research says strikes this week will cost the economy £330m, bringing the total cost of industrial action to £1.3bn since last July.

Network Rail is said to have a skeleton team of signals workers for emergencies on strike days, allowing one in five services to be operated by RMT during earlier strike days.

However, since there are significantly fewer emergency drivers available, the timetables are likely to be further reduced. There will be no South West England train services beyond Plymouth, while Scottish journeys will stop 18 miles north of Edinburgh.

Train stations expected to remain without services this week include Aberdeen, Penzance and Gloucester.

Passengers have been warned to avoid rail travel in the first week of 2023.

RMT leader Mick Lynch has accused ministers of “undermining efforts to reach a deal”, adding that a deal was “torpedoed” last month.

Mr Lynch yesterday raised the prospect of strikes that would stretch into May when the RMT’s current strike mandate expires, as 40,000 of its members went on strike this week for the first of two 48-hour strikes.

But he also said an agreement was possible within “the next few days”, while Network Rail’s chief negotiator said an agreement might be “close enough”.

New details emerged showing the offer on the table over two years for the low-paid among Mr Lynch’s members is worth 14 per cent – 2.5 per cent more per year than what most nurses were being offered.