Twelve months after it appeared on the picket line at Amazon’s BHX4 warehouse in Coventry the ‘Deceptioncon’ robot costume will go on display at People’s History Museum (PHM) in Manchester. It was created by members of the GMB union and was worn at a strike that took place on Black Friday in November 2023 to illustrate how Amazon workers felt that they were being treated like robots. Deceptioncon will go on display at the national museum of democracy from Friday 29 November 2024.
Amazon workers were striking for better working conditions and a pay increase to £15 per hour. They were also demanding union recognition. This was in the same year that Amazon’s total revenue reached $575billion and workers were told that their pay would be increased to at least £12.30 by April (2024). There is still no union recognition twelve months on.
Lisa Peatfield, Collections Manager at People’s History Museum, says: “Several objects from GMB’s strike action at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have come into the collection at PHM. Along with Deceptioncon there is a placard from the picket line and a hi-vis jacket worn by a union member. We’ve collected this material to represent contemporary strike action by workers to demand better pay and conditions from global, vastly profitable corporations such as Amazon.”
Take a look, alongside the museum’s historic collection, until Monday 24 March 2025.
