Union GMB launched a public campaign yesterday demanding decent jobs and pay at a planned Amazon warehouse in Kent.

The online retailer is set to open a new site in Ashford but the union wants to make sure the workers are paid a living wage.

The union said that many Amazon staff are hired through employment agencies with no job security and on zero-hours contracts.

Its campaign in Ashford is part of a workers’ fightback against Amazon’s stingy employment practices across Europe.

GMB national organiser Martin Smith said: “We want the Ashford public to understand that the high-tech way Amazon process orders and tracks inventory disguises that it is also a traditional labour-intensive mail-order retail business.

“It relies on large numbers of staff to receive the goods, to pick and pack them to meet customer orders.

“Where it differs from other retailers is its refusal to pay proper taxes or to treat its workers properly.”