Legislators in the UK have criticized Amazon executives for their persistent failure to explain the numerous strikes by employees at the company’s Coventry warehouse over wages and working conditions.
MPs expressed concerns about Amazon’s handling of its employees when HR officials Jennifer Kearney and Stuart Morgan avoided explicitly addressing the same question eight times at a parliamentary hearing in December.
The Coventry fulfillment center saw a surge in industrial action after workers complained about poor pay and purported safety hazards at work. This prompted the hearing. With 49.5% of workers in favor of the move, just 0.6% less than the necessary majority, site employees came within a hair’s breadth of winning a vote to unionize in early 2024.
MPs kept asking Kearney and Morgan why so many workers in Coventry had decided to go on strike. Kearney refused to give a definitive answer, insisting that workers were only “executing their rights,” which infuriated MPs.
“If Amazon is such a great place to work … why have your team in Coventry gone on strike so much?” Jonathan Reynolds, MP, pressed.
MP Antonia Bance noted that strikes must have a valid purpose in order to proceed under UK legislation after multiple attempts to elicit a straight response. In response to a question about the cause, Kearney acknowledged that she “did not have the information at the top of her mind” and said she would check in later.
Serious security issues with Amazon warehouses
Additionally, Amazon’s workplace safety record in the UK received additional attention as a result of the hearing. According to estimates, the company’s warehouses received over 1,400 ambulance calls in a five-year span, which alarmed Members of Parliament.
In one instance, a chemical spill caused an employee to lose 80% of his vision. According to the hearing, Amazon put off contacting emergency services because of worries about the volume of ambulance demands coming from the website.
Kearney and Morgan again struggled to respond, with Kearney stating: “One [safety] incident is too many, so we work actively…to support [employees] and to make sure we’re doing everything as safely as possible.”
However, the MPs remained dubious and demanded more information about how the business handles these kinds of cases.
Claims of retaliation escalate tensions
Tensions between Amazon and its employees have increased since the hearing, and there have been claims that the corporation has retaliated against workers who were trying to form a union.
The newly implemented productivity tracking regulations have resulted in disciplinary action against 60 employees, all of whom backed unionization, according to the GMB union.
The modifications impact how Amazon evaluates “non-productive time,” which includes delays brought on by meetings, equipment malfunctions, and even toilet breaks. They have allegedly resulted in termination threats, frequently without providing workers with adequate notice.
HR leaders and business executives will be keenly monitoring Amazon’s response to growing criticism from employees and UK regulators. The corporation has failed to provide sufficient answers to major worker rights concerns.
