Amazon employees hold GMB union placards on the picket line as they hold a strike outside the Amazon satisfaction centre on January 25, 2023 in Coventry, England.
Christopher Furlong|Getty Images
LONDON– A top Amazon executive informed CNBC the business is “not concerned” about a wave of unionizing internationally due to the fact that the e-commerce giant has competitive pay and advantages.
The remarks come in the middle of prominent efforts in the U.S. and U.K. from Amazon storage facility employees to form unions.
Stefano Perego, vice president of consumer fulfilment and worldwide ops services for North America and Europe at Amazon, stated the business’s pay and advantages are appealing.
“As long as we offer competitive pay invaluable benefits, we don’t think that our people will choose to be represented, but this is their choice,” Perego informed CNBC in an interview on Tuesday.
There seems an increasing push for unionization amongst Amazon employees.
Workers at an Amazon website in Coventry, a city in the U.K. staged the very first official commercial action in the nation inJanuary The employees are dissatisfied about the wage increases they have actually gotten which they state are insufficient. The workers have actually required official union acknowledgment which would provide the capability to jointly haggle with the Amazon over incomes.
And in 2015 a group of employees in New York’s Staten Island ended up being the very first group to enact favor of unionizing at a U.S. center run byAmazon Amazon has actually withstood unionization efforts in the U.S.
The efforts from unions have actually up until now stopped working to galvanize a wave of unionization internationally as numerous had actually hoped.
Perego stated Amazon is not fretted about the increase of unions.
“No, I’m not worried due to the fact that once again, [it] is an option our individuals needs to make, and we understand that we are really competitive,” Perego stated.
‘Out of touch’
The GMB union, which represents the Amazon employees in the U.K., called Perego “out of touch.”
“Mr Perego is clearly completely out of touch with his workforce if he thinks Amazon doesn’t need to negotiate with GMB. It’s one of the wealthiest companies in the world, yet the pay is paltry, not competitive,” Amanda Gearing, GMB senior organizer, informed CNBC through e-mail.
“Amazon workers don’t want ‘invaluable benefits’ – they want enough cash in their pockets to keep a roof over their heads and feed their families,” Gearing included.
“Workers in Coventry – and across the world – are rising up and recognising their own worth. It’s time Amazon bosses listened to them.”
Safety performance history enhancing
The Amazon executive stated the business has 220,000 workers in Europe and there are “very few situations where there is a union between us and our workforce.”
Another gripe with Amazon employees in storage facilities is around security.
Perego stated the business has actually been enhancing its performance history in this location. He stated that the recordable injury rate in Amazon centers has actually fallen more than 24% considering that2019 Amazon prepares to invest $550 million internationally on security in 2023.
