It’s 5 a.m. and Amin is on the picket line outside the Amazon warehouse in Coventry. He’s one of the hundreds of Amazon workers making history, being the first ever in the UK to engage in formal strike action. It’s a chilly winter morning, and we’re gathered around the fire, engaging in conversation about this important moment.

Amin has worked here for nearly three years now. He never thought he’d find himself on a picket line, but he says he had no choice. “The cost of living is going up. Things are really, really hard, not just for me but for people across the UK. Prices are going up. Energy prices are ridiculous. When you’ve got a family to feed, it’s even tougher.” Also hovering round the fire is Mark, who’s worked at Amazon for nearly four years. “There was nowhere else to go,” he explains. “A lot of people here depend on these jobs, and they deserve so much more money. You shouldn’t be living just above the poverty line when you’re working for one of the richest companies in the world.”

Mark is right: Amazon is one of the most profitable companies on the planet, with its annual revenue soaring to $386 billion in 2020. As high streets shuttered, its online sales model made it one of the major beneficiaries of the pandemic; sales in the UK alone jumped 51 percent that year, to hit £19.4 billion. On top of that, Amazon UK Services Limited reported paying just £10.8 million in tax in 2021, despite recording a pre-tax profit of £204 million.