Government must use public contracts with Amazon to improve working conditions, says TUC

Ministers should pressure company to change how it treats staff after reports of gruelling targets and discouragement of unions, says TUC

This year so far Amazon has won £23m of government work (AFP via Getty Images)

The government should use its purchasing power to force Amazon to improve rights for its workers, the TUC has said.

The union umbrella group found that local and national government awarded Amazon £630m of contracts between 2015 and 2020, many of them for web-hosting services and cloud storage.

This year so far Amazon has won £23m of government work, the TUC and the GMB union found.

They called on government to use its leverage to change Amazon's working practices, pointing to reports of gruelling targets, surveillance of staff and discouragement of unions.

Figures obtained by the GMB union show that between 2015 to 2018, ambulances were called out 600 times to 14 Amazon warehouses in Britain.

Amazon said unions were painting a "false picture" of working life at its warehouses.

The TUC said the employment bill currently working its way through parliament offers a "golden opportunity" to improve working conidtions.

It wants the government to give unions greater access to workplaces, ban zero-hours contracts and bogus self-employment, and strengthen laws that hold companies liable for workers' rights abuses in the supply chains.  

The TUC said that ministers must take a lead and insist that Amazon improve working conditions for staff – many of whom have been key workers during the pandemic.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said contracts with Amazon were a key test for the government’s levelling up agenda.

“If ministers are serious about improving lives they must help 'level up' working conditions at places like Amazon."

"Amazon workers have played a key role during this pandemic. But many are treated like disposable labour. That is not right.

“Public contracts should not reward bad working practices. The government must use its purchasing power to ensure people are given dignity at work and a wage they can live on.

“And the government must get on with introducing its long-awaited employment bill. This is a golden opportunity to boost rights and pay.”

Mick Rix, GMB national officer, said: “Amazon is trousering hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ hard-earned cash through public sector contracts - while paying a pittance in tax on their vast profits.

An Amazon spokesperson said: "Over the last 10 years we've invested more than £23bn in the UK, and this year we announced plans to create another 10,000 new jobs by the end of 2020, taking our total UK workforce to over 40,000.

"Amazon is a safe place to work. Yet again, our critics seem determined to paint a false picture of what it's like to work for Amazon. They repeat the same sensationalised allegations time and time again."

A business department spokesman said: "The government will not tolerate the exploitation of vulnerable workers for commercial gain.

"We have committed to establishing a single enforcement body for employment rights to provide a clearer route for workers to raise a complaint and get support, while providing a consistent approach to enforcement."