Amazon workers given “minimal information” after Tuberculosis outbreak at Coventry warehouse

On Friday 16 January, the union GMB called for an Amazon warehouse in Coventry to close after confirmation of a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak on-site.

The retail giant then released a statement confirming that 10 workers at the Lyons Park facility — known as BHX4 — tested positive for non-contagious TB. The kicker? The positive test results date back to September 2025. The fulfilment centre stayed open all the while, delivering products across the county.

Now, an anonymous worker has revealed that the retailer gave employees no opportunity to ask questions about infections on site — dismissing concerns and focusing on getting people back to work.

‘A scale not seen for decades’

On 16 January, GMB senior organiser Amada Gearing urged Amazon to close the site, in the public interest:

Currently, 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 of a scale not seen for decades.

Immediate and decisive action – including the temporary closure of Amazon Coventry – is required to prevent this.

TB symptoms include high temperatures, a persistent cough, unexplained weight loss and night sweats. The number of cases in the UK has risen rapidly in recent years. 2024 saw the greatest increase since national surveillance began, with a 14% year-on-year rise, which continued into 2025.

GMB wrote to Amazon bosses with the following demands: 

– The BHX4 site should be closed immediately, and all staff should be sent home.

– The workers should be medically suspended on full pay until the issue is resolved.

– The site should remain closed until infection control measures are put in place.

Employee awareness?

However, Amazon — of course — failed to shut down its fulfilment centre. Regarding the outbreak, a company spokesperson said:

Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our team members. Last year, ten people who work at our Coventry fulfilment centre tested positive for non-contagious TB.

In line with best practice safety procedures, we immediately followed guidance from the NHS and UK Health Security Agency and made all potentially affected employees aware of the situation. Out of an abundance of caution, we are currently running an expanded screening programme with the NHS.

Non-contagious (or latent) TB is asymptomatic and can’t spread to other people. However, latent TB can develop into active TB, which is highly contagious, and can be fatal. Even for latent TB, treatment involves 3-6 months of antibiotics.

However, an employee testimony has cast seriou sdoubt on the claim that Amazon informed “all potentially affected employees” about the outbreak. One worker told Coventry Live that the warehouse was anything but concerned with keeping people informed:

While TB is a serious infectious disease that understandably causes concern, the way this situation was communicated to employees was troubling. Internal guidance given to managers focused heavily on talking points, instructing them on what to say to staff rather than encouraging openness, transparency, or meaningful reassurance.

Workers were repeatedly told that the risk was ‘low’ while being given minimal information and little opportunity to ask questions or express concerns without fear. For a disease like TB, which carries long-term health implications and stigma, this approach feels dismissive.

Employees are not just numbers or operational resources, they are human beings with families, health worries, and a right to clear and timely information when their wellbeing may be affected. Serious illnesses in the workplace should be handled with honesty and compassion, not carefully managed scripts.

Outrage from MPs

Zarah Sultana, Your Party MP for Coventry South, was understandably outraged at Amazon’s actions. She accused the company of treating workers “as if they’re disposable”, and echoed GMB’s demands to shut the site down:

With multiple confirmed cases on site, the warehouse must be shut down immediately and workers sent home on full pay.

This is a corporation that clearly thinks it’s above the law, forcing people into conditions that belong in the Victorian era. It’s a stark reminder of why the trade union movement was founded in the first place.

Likewise, fellow Coventry MP Taiwo Owatemi also voiced concern at Amazon’s disregard for employee safety:

While it has been stated that NHS guidance is being followed, this situation understandably raises serious questions about workplace safety and infection control.

Amazon has a clear responsibility to look after its employees and to ensure that the working environment is safe, transparent, and responsive to legitimate health concerns. Workers should never feel that productivity is being prioritised over their health.

Amazon is well known for its complete disregard for its employees’ welfare. Memorably, the company had to row back on a tweet mocking the idea that its workers get so few breaks that they have to piss in plastic bottles. Because, you know, it turned out that its workers do piss in plastic bottles.

Likewise, the UK fulfilment centres have notably high rates of injury compared to similar competitors, and use gruelling shift patterns of 10-hour days. If workers fall behind on their completely unreasonable production quotas, they’re harassed or disciplined by management.

Even within this dismal context, the retailer’s actions in response to the confirmed TB outbreak on its site beg belief.

The fact that it chose to keep workers minimally informed, and to keep its centre open – apparently without even investigating exactly how ten people contracted TB infections on its grounds – is truly shocking. Unfortunately, for a company like Amazon, it’s barely even surprising.

Featured image via the Canary/Unsplash