Amazon, the retail giant, is one of the largest e-commerce platform the internet has ever seen. It's also among the biggest tech companies in the world.
With billions upon billions of dollars the company earned, many of which has made founder Jeff Bezos one of the richest men on Earth.
The thing is, the same does not apply to many of its employees.
According to reports, members of the GMB union are walking out at Amazon's Coventry warehouse, and called about the "severe" conditions of their workplace, the long working hours, and claimed that they're constantly under tech-enhanced monitoring. Even a trip to the toilet can lead to questions by managers.
This is the first time that, Amazon UK workers stage a strike against the online giant.
They demand better working conditions.
According to at least two Amazon workers, who are members of the GMB, even robots in the warehouse "are treated better than us".
They claimed that are unhappy with a pay increase of 50 pence per hour, or an equivalent to 5% and well below inflation.
While Amazon introduced an increase in wage in the summer of 2022, but warehouse workers claimed that it fails to match the rising cost of living.
In UK, inflation has soared due to increased energy costs and supply chain disruptions resulting from Russia's invasion to Ukraine. Consumer prices rose 10.5% year-over-year in December; in response, the Bank of England has hiked interest rates to tame rising costs.
It's kind of painful to know that on average, Amazon warehouse workers work more than 8 weeks to earn what Jeff Bezos makes in a single second.
Because of this, employees want the company to pay them a minimum of £15 an hour.
The 24-hour strike action began Wednesday, a minute after midnight.
Amazon has long been criticized for labor shortcomings, with the company often accused of poor working conditions in its warehouses and delivery operations and squashing attempts from employees to unionize.
But in this case, Amazon defended its cause, by saying that it has a system "that recognizes great performance".
"Performance is only measured when an employee is at their station and logged in to do their job," and that "if an employee logs out, which they can do at any time, the performance management tool is paused," a spokesperson said.
A spokesperson said it "also encourages coaching to help employees improve if they are not meeting their performance goals".
While the staged protest included lots of the company's employees, according to the spokesperson, the staff involved represent "only a fraction of 1% of our UK employees [...] and that includes those who voted against industrial action."
The spokesperson also said that pay for Amazon's UK warehouse workers has increased 29% since 2018, and pointed to a £500 one-time payment made out to staff to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
"We appreciate the great work our teams do throughout the year and we're proud to offer competitive pay which starts at a minimum of between £10.50 and £11.45 per hour, depending on location."
The protest against the company is the first legally mandated strike to take place in the UK's Amazon, and came as Amazon is laying off thousands of workers worldwide.