Organizing Amazon: Building Worker Power Under Conditions of Fragmentation, Precarity and Regimentation - Softcover

Vickers, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1529254299 ISBN 13: 9781529254297

Publisher: Bristol University Press, 2025

Synopsis

Between August 2022 and July 2024, GMB Union membership at Amazon’s BHX4 Coventry warehouse skyrocketed, with 37 days of strike action resulting in a 28.5% pay rise. Yet despite this, the union narrowly lost a ballot that would have forced Amazon to grant formal recognition.

Based on ethnographic research and reflective essays from worker-leaders and organizers, this book offers a rich case study of the factors contributing to the union’s successes and setbacks. It provides a practical organizing model applicable beyond Amazon, offering strategies to engage the workforce, sustain support and develop leadership. An essential toolkit for those navigating the complexities of evolving labour practices, with particular relevance for precarious workers and workplaces where access is limited.

About this title

About the Author

Tom Vickers is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Nottingham Trent University. His research is intimately connected to his participation in social movements, community organising and community education, as a form of critical public sociology spanning diverse struggles.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529254299
• ISBN 13: 9781529254297
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160