DELIVERY delays continue as Amazon workers threaten to walk out following the outbreak of contagious disease.
The GMB called for the immediate closure of the online site after multiple cases of the illness were confirmed.
The GMB union has called for a walkout at an Amazon site in Coventry after multiple cases of TB were confirmed (stock image)Credit: AFP
A number tuberculosis (TB) cases have been reported at the Coventry warehouse, with staff attending the site to perform blood tests.
Some 2,000 work at the site, including around 700 GMB members, with confirming that 10 people tested positive for non-contagious TB in September, 2025.
A spokesman for Amazon said no additional cases had since been identified and the site has continued to run as normal, with a “screening programme” being carried out amid “an abundance of caution”.
“In line with best practice safety procedures, we immediately followed guidance from the NHS and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and made all potentially affected employees aware of the situation,” the statement read.
“We will continue to follow guidance from the experts in the NHS, and would respectfully remind public organisations of the need for responsible communications where matters of public wellbeing are concerned.”
Dr Roger Gajraj, who with UKHSA West Midlands, said: “The small number of individuals affected by tuberculosis are responding well to treatment and are no longer infectious, so pose no onward risk.”
However, the GMB union has called for all staff to be sent home and medically suspended on full pay “until appropriate infection control measures are implemented to prevent the further spread of TB”.
GMB Senior Organiser Amanda Gearing called for “immediate and decisive action”, saying: “Amazon is putting all workers, site visitors, and the local and wider communities at risk of exposure to a serious infectious disease.”
“Coventry Amazon risks becoming the engine room of a mass TB outbreak on a scale not seen for decades.”
She added: “Immediate and decisive action – including the temporary closure of Amazon Coventry – is required to prevent this.”
Meanwhile, Your Party MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, said Amazon not closing the site is “outrageous”, adding the company is treating “its employees as if they’re disposable”.
“This is a corporation that clearly thinks it’s above the law, forcing people into conditions that belong in the Victorian era,” she said.
TB symptoms
TB is a bacterial infection primarily impacting the lungs.
Symptoms, often gradual, include:
- Persistent cough (lasting over three weeks)
- Chest pain
- Fatigue/ weakness
- Fever and night sweats
- Weight loss and loss of appetite
- Swelling of lymph nodes
- Blood in urine
- Back pain
- Headaches and confusion
- Hoarse voice
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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