UK
Here’s How Labour and the Unions Could Take on Amazon

No unions, no public sector contracts.

by Polly Smythe
16 August 2024

A rally in support of Amazon workers’ on strike in Coventry in January 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls


New MPs entering parliament have been given a hearty welcome by Amazon, the retail and logistics behemoth widely accused of poor working conditions and union-busting.

In a congratulatory email sent to all new MPs, Amazon mentioned the recent union recognition ballot at Coventry’s BHX4 site where workers narrowly voted against union recognition. It said: “Across Amazon, we place enormous value on engaging directly with our employees and having daily conversations with them. We value that direct relationship and so do our employees.”

What the email didn’t mention was the union-busting dirty-tricks campaign that preceded the vote. Those “daily conversations” included mandatory hour-long union busting seminars, where Amazon officials told workers that unionisation meant they might miss out on pay rises given to other sites.

The email is just one sign that Amazon is taking no chances as it deals with a new government that could, in theory, reign its excesses in.

In June of 2022, Keir Starmer told the GMB conference that Amazon “should recognise the GMB.”

Yet 37 strike days and almost two years later, the corporate giant remains steadfastly non-union. After multiple refusals by Amazon to voluntarily recognise the union, last month workers in Coventry narrowly voted against unionisation.

A sustained anti-union campaign saw Amazon plaster the warehouse with anti-union posters, as well as QR codes that generated an email to the GMB requesting that union membership be cancelled.

Following the election, both the GMB and Amazon are anxiously watching the new prime minister to see whether his government will take action to confront the corporate giant.

If enacted, several of Labour’s manifesto commitments could curb the company’s vast commercial power in the UK and undermine its anti-trade union stance.

While not explicitly targeted at Amazon, the employment rights bill set to be introduced within Labour’s first 100 days of government – by 13 October – could remove some of the obstacles that the GMB faced in their battle to unionise the Coventry warehouse.

The GMB has sought access to Amazon warehouses for 12 years, and have been forced to do most of their organising and recruitment work outside the building gates. At the moment, there is no general right for unions to go inside workplaces and address the workforce – but the bill promises to change that, giving trade unions the right to enter workplaces and speak to workers.

The bill pledges to lower the threshold of support unions need in a workplace for holding a recognition ballot and allow workers to vote electronically.

Labour’s proposed reforms to public procurement, which have gone largely under the radar, could also impact Amazon.

Amazon made £222 million in 2022 from government and public sector contracts, with 99% of identifiable spending going on Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing arm.

Large government contracts to Amazon Web Services are part of what makes the company such a formidable opponent for unions, as the company can use the massive profits it makes from cloud computing to offset the losses in retail that strike action inflicts, thereby riding strike action out.

At the 2023 GMB conference, Amazon striker Garfield Hylton asked Starmer: “What will a Labour government do to stop this flow of money to Amazon if they continue to refuse recognition of the workers’ union?”

Starmer, who described the GMB’s bid for recognition as a “fantastic campaign,” said that public money was not a “free-for-all” and that an incoming Labour government was entitled to ask “what’s the terms and conditions” it was given on.

While Labour’s initial “new deal for working people” pledged to reform public procurement, the pledge was dropped in May, as part of a general rowing back on the document.

While the updated new deal still promises to “make sure that trade union recognition and access is valued and considered as part of the process of awarding public contracts and determining strategic suppliers,” that pledge no longer forms part of Labour’s employment rights bill.

Instead, the document states that it will be implemented by a specific procurement bill. However, the king’s speech made no mention of a procurement bill, and no date for a proposed bill has been suggested.

Stuart Richards, a senior organiser for GMB, said: “At the end of last year, we saw Amazon being given public sector contracts worth around £900m while, at the same time, spending huge amounts of time and money to try and stop workers from organising their workplaces.

“The Labour party has a chance to reverse this. We’ve been given a commitment to link public procurement to unionised jobs and support for unionised industries. This commitment now needs to be delivered.”

Whether Labour reform procurement or not, Amazon isn’t taking any chances. Faced with new legislation, and the GMB’s close relationship with Labour as one of its biggest trade union donors, the corporate giant has launched a new lobbying offensive.

Behind the scenes, the company is buttering up newcomers to parliament.

New MPs have been invited to attend a welcome reception for new MPs that is supported by Amazon.

The event is hosted by the House magazine, a publication for the Houses of Parliament. According to the invitation: “This event is kindly sponsored by Amazon. Amazon has been in the UK for over 25 years, employing over 75,000 people across retail, technology and the creative industries, and supporting 100,000 UK-based SMEs to reach their customers.

“You will be able to engage with their team to find out how they can help support you as you represent your constituents.”

One new Labour MP has responded to Amazon’s overtures. On LinkedIn, MP for Swindon North Will Stone wrote: “Had the pleasure of visiting the Amazon BRS2 fulfillment [sic] centre today! It was interesting to take a peek at the technology being used on site and hear about their plans for introducing more green energy on site.”

Back in the summer of 2022, workers at BRS2 were part of a wave of wildcat strikes that broke out over pay and conditions. In November 2023, the GMB protested outside the Swindon depot in solidarity with strike action taking place in Coventry.

David McMullen, a GMB Organiser, said: “It’s not just in the Midlands where members are being underpaid and we aim to highlight this in Swindon.”

Labour appears to already be working closely with Amazon’s cloud computing department.

On 25 July, the minister for science and technology Peter Kyle announced that the government would match-fund a contribution made by Amazon of £8 million in cloud computing storage access to UK Biobank, a health database.

Kyle said: “This is just the start of our plan to work hand-in-hand with industry and academia, to harness the power of life sciences to grow our economy and boost healthcare.”

Kyle isn’t the only minister seemingly undeterred by Amazon’s flagrant union-busting. Last week, culture secretary Lisa Nandy publicly welcomed Amazon’s investment in the UK creative industries, after the US company acquired Bray studios. Nandy said the move would ensure the studio continued to “play a crucial role in our first-class screen industries.”


Polly Smythe is Novara Media’s labour movement correspondent.