Workers at Amazon's warehouse in Coventry, England, officially began their strike action last Wednesday.

According to the British GMB union, about 300 workers participated in the strike. They gathered outside the warehouse and loudly protested Amazon's £10.50 hourly wage, calling the wage increase "insulting".

The warehouse workers told local media that they were treated "inhumanely" while working at Amazon , that they took few breaks on the job and were closely monitored by managers.

However, Amazon said that this is only a system "to review employee performance".

An Amazon spokesperson said the system "helps employees improve" when they are not meeting performance standards. But two Amazon employees believe that the robots in the warehouse are better than their treatment.

They also added: " Even going to the bathroom during work will be questioned by the leadership . As long as you are not working, they will come to see what is going on, sometimes just leave for a few minutes. A record is left in the system. ”

Another employee complained that he himself suffers from diabetes, but it is not easy to go to the toilet in the huge warehouse. Sometimes it takes more than 15 minutes to go back and forth. what to do.

In response to this problem, Amazon explained that employees can suspend the performance statistics tool at any time if they need to go out, and denied the situation pointed out by employees.

In August last year, Amazon offered employees in the UK a 5% salary increase. However, due to the high level of inflation that has not been seen in 40 years, this salary increase is obviously a drop in the bucket, and the budget pressure of many working-class people has reached the limit.

An Amazon spokesperson said Amazon is "proud" of its "competitive" pay. Warehouse workers started earning £11.45 an hour in London and the south-east, and £10.50 an hour elsewhere, he said.

That means the minimum hourly wage for Amazon workers has increased by 29% since 2018, he said . But union members want a minimum wage of £15 an hour.

The two sides have been deadlocked because of this issue, and have not been able to reach a consensus.

In fact, in the United States, Amazon has been at constant friction with labor unions. More than half of the 8,000 workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., have voted to join the Amazon union, which is now officially certified. However, Amazon said it would appeal the certification.

Under internal and external troubles, Amazon's first move in the new year is still the focus of attention from the outside world.