Amazon raises UK hourly warehouse pay to £11 after strike action

theguardian.com:

Amazon has announced it will increase minimum hourly pay by about 50p to £11 for UK warehouse workers from next week after it faced strike action.

The online retailer said the change meant minimum pay had risen by 10% in the past seven months, putting it ahead of the legal minimum wage for those aged 23 or over, which will be £10.42 an hour from April.

Amazon, which has more than 30 warehouses in the UK, said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages, and we’re pleased to be announcing another increase for our UK operations teams.”

It said workers’ pay had risen by 37% since 2018 and it also “worked hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities”.

Employees, including seasonal and part-time staff, also received a one-off payment of up to £500 at Christmas.

Amazon increased pay by about 50p an hour in August last year, but the unexpectedly low increase prompted workers at its Coventry fulfilment centre to go on strike for eight days since January, including five days last week.

The workers became the first ever employees of the online retailer in the UK to take strike action on 25 January. They asked for higher pay and have also complained of overbearing management practices and long hours.

The GMB union, which backed the strike action in Coventry, now has more than 500 members at the site – up from a few dozen last year – and is now consulting with members about whether to take further industrial action.

A number of supermarkets and other retailers have raised pay to more than £11 an hour amid a battle for workers across the UK.

Aldi announced its fourth pay rise in just over a year last week, promising £11.40 an hour from July, meaning that from next month