UK must compel Amazon to improve worker

conditions, say unions

Rob Davies – 12th October 2020

The UK government should use the influence it has over Amazon through £630m of state contracts to compel
the company to improve conditions for workers, trade unions have said.

The TUC issued a report criticising Amazon’s employment practices on Monday, the eve of Prime Day – an
annual event when the online retailer offers deals but that unions have said pushes hardworking staff to their
limit and beyond.

In a joint statement with the GMB union, the TUC called on the government to improve workers’ conditions
through an upcoming employment bill but also to force Amazon’s hand by using its powers as a client of the
company.

Amazon has won £23m in state-funded work since the pandemic started, including £8.3m related to the
beleaguered NHS test and trace app, taking the total value of its UK government contracts since 2015 to
£630m. The TUC and GMB said these contracts – calculated by the specialist procurement organisation Tussell
– meant ministers could force the company to improve conditions for workers.

They said workers have described gruelling conditions, unrealistic productivity targets, surveillance, bogus
self-employment and a refusal to recognise or engage with unions unless forced. Ambulances were called out
600 times to 14 Amazon warehouses in Britain between 2015 and 2018, which the GMB said was because
workers were collapsing in unsafe, intense working conditions.

“If ministers are serious about improving lives they must help level up working conditions at places like
Amazon,” said the TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady. “Amazon workers have played a key role during
this pandemic. But many are treated like disposable labour. That is not right. Public contracts should not
reward bad working practices.”

She said the government also had a “golden opportunity” to strengthen labour rights and improve pay in the
upcoming employment bill.

The TUC want the bill to include:

- Better union access to workplaces.

- The banning of zero hours contracts.
- Stronger laws to protect supply chain workers.
- Ending “bogus” self-employment.

The GMB’s Mick Rix said: “This report is a warning to the public sector that it can no longer turn a blind eye to
Amazon’s exploitative practices and appalling health and safety record. It’s time for UK government and
safety regulators to either tell Amazon’s management to put their house in order or send them packing.”

In the US, Amazon came under pressure after revealing that almost 20,000 of its workers in the US have
contracted Covid-19 after months of demands for public disclosure from activists.

A spokesperson for Amazon said: “Over the last 10 years we’ve invested more than £23bn in the UK, and this
year we announced plans to create another 10,000 new jobs by the end of 2020, taking our total UK
workforce to over 40,000.

“Amazon is a safe place to work. Yet again, our critics seem determined to paint a false picture of what it’s like
to work for Amazon. They repeat the same sensationalised allegations time and time again.”

Adapted from The Guardian