Over 600 workers kicked off a three-day strike at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse over the weekend.

The Amazon employees, represented by trade union GMB, are asking for £15 an hour after Amazon recently made a pay increase offer of under 50p.

They walked out on Sunday and will continue to strike until Tuesday, with today marking the tenth day of strike action at the site.

Workers at the warehouse also plan to strike between 21 and 23 April, bringing the total number of strike days to 14.

“Today is an historic day in an historic campaign,” said Amanda Gearing, GMB senior organiser. “Amazon said it would never happen, and that only a tiny number would join industrial action over their pay rise of pennies.”

She continued: “Today GMB union reaches 600 members at the Coventry site, with more joining every day. Morale on the picket line is sky high and these workers aren’t giving up until they get the pay justice they deserve.”

GMB also began fresh ballots in March for industrial action across fiver other fulfilment centres in the Midlands, including: Mansfield in Nottinghamshire; Coalville in Leicestershire; Kegworth in Leicestershire; Rugeley in Staffordshire; and Rugby in Warwickshire.

The ballots asked GMB members if they are willing to strike over the 50p pay rise offer by Amazon management.

The union warned that if Amazon doesn't up its pay, the e-commerce could face a “summer of strike chaos".

An Amazon spokesperson said: “We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages, and recently announced another increase for our UK teams, Over the past seven months, our minimum pay has risen by 10 per cent and by more than 37 per cent since 2018. We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities."

The additional strikes come after Amazon put forward a pay increase offer averaging 1.8 to 2.5 per cent in March.

At the time, GMB said that with inflation rising and RPI reaching more than 12 per cent earlier in the year, its members have called for Amazon to “urgently sit down and talk pay”.

In the first-ever strike action Amazon has faced in the UK, more than 500 GMB Union members took strike action between 13 and 17 March at the Coventry warehouse after the 50p pay rise offer.

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