Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) has won its UK unionisation battle by a tiny margin, with the GMB union saying the tech giant "fought dirty" with a "culture of fear" and the battle "is not over".
Out of the 2,600 workers who voted at the Coventry warehouse site, 49.5% backed union recognition.
The US corporation said: "Across Amazon, we place enormous value on engaging directly with our employees and having daily conversations with them. We value that direct relationship and so do our employees.
"This is why we've always worked hard to listen to them, act on their feedback, and invest heavily in great pay, benefits and skills development - all in a safe and inclusive workplace with excellent career opportunities."
But GMB says Amazon now faces a legal challenge over its union-busting tactics, with reports that workers had been bombarded with what the union called an "unrelenting campaign of anti-union messages by company bosses, including multiple anti-union seminars and threats to terms and conditions" to pressure workers into cancelling their union membership.
Stuart Richards, a GMB senior organiser, said: "We’ve seen workers pressured into attending six hours of anti-union seminars on top of the fortune spent by Amazon bosses to scare workers.
"Workers have been told they will get no pay rise this year and will have to lose even more benefits if they vote for union recognition.
"This kind of union-busting has no place in 21st century Britain; it’s clear Amazon cannot be trusted to play by the rules that all other companies in the UK are expected to follow."