Workplace Report September 2018

Health & safety news

Amazon protest


Earlier this month, the GMB general union protested outside the huge Amazon warehouse at Rugeley in Staffordshire over the terrible conditions inside.


The union has obtained figures showing that ambulances were called 115 times over the past three years. In comparison, there were just eight call-outs at a similar-sized supermarket distribution warehouse a few miles away over the same period. 


The union says it also has testimony from GMB members revealing a woman in late pregnancy was forced to stand for 10 hours a day, another saying she suffered a miscarriage, and people working in constant agony.


“The stories we hear from inside Amazon Rugeley are nothing short of disgusting,” said GMB regional organiser Rebecca Mitchell. “Yet the company keep burying their head in the sand and claiming nothing is wrong.”

www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/amazon-protest-ambulance