Amazon must improve working conditions, not just pay – says TUC
TUC calls for company to recognise unions and end ‘exploitative working conditions’
Commenting on today’s (Tuesday) minimum wage announcement by Amazon, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:
“Amazon is a trillion-dollar company. It can easily afford to pay staff higher wages.
“If Amazon is really serious about looking after its workforce it must recognise trade unions. And it must end the exploitative working practices that have seen hundreds of ambulances called to its UK warehouses.
“All workers deserve decent conditions at work – not surveillance, inhuman targets and the threat of a disciplinary if they to go to the toilet.
“Today’s announcement is the result of campaigning by the GMB and unions around the world. It’s only a start and shouldn’t be spun as a huge act of generosity.”
ENDS
- Ambulances had been called out 600 times to the online retailer’s UK warehouses in the past three years. A Freedom of Information request to ambulance services from the GMB union revealed 115 call-outs to Amazon’s site in Rugeley, near Birmingham, including three relating to pregnancy or maternity problems and three for major trauma.
- The Trades Union Congress (TUC) exists to make the working world a better place for everyone. We bring together more than 5.5 million working people who make up our 49 member unions. We support unions to grow and thrive, and we stand up for everyone who works for a living.
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