Government slammed over ‘bizarre’ use of Amazon to give fuel poverty advice

A joint campaign by Amazon and the government to offer struggling families money-saving advice has been slammed by an employee of the tech giant who said its own staff are paid “poverty wages”.

On Monday, ministers announced that the government is partnering with Amazon to offer energy-saving advice through its Echo devices and Alexa voice assistant.

Owners of such devices or applications can use phrases including “Alexa, give me tips to conserve energy” to receive the government advice, according to the press release.

Campaigners and charities have branded the move a “bizarre gimmick”, telling openDemocracy that it’s unlikely that people in fuel poverty use the Amazon devices.

José Francisco Mora, who works as a cleaner for Amazon, said the announcement was “frustrating and disappointing” for him and his colleagues “who work hard at night for poverty wages and poor working conditions”.

He said it showed that “Amazon would rather spend its resources on programming a virtual assistant to help those who can afford Alexa-type luxuries, than offer its workers a fair and dignified treatment and a decent pay rise”.

Amazon has not yet responded to a request from the cleaners’ union, United Voices of the World, to be paid the London Living Wage, £11.95 an hour. The cleaners currently earn minimum wage, an hourly rate of £10.42.

The cleaners, who are paid an hourly rate of £10.42, are asking Amazon to raise their wages to the London Living Wage, £11.95 an hour, which Amazon warehouse workers already receive.

The US tech company recognised United Voices of the World, the union which represents the cleaners, in May but has not yet met their request for a payrise.

Fuel poverty campaigners also criticised the government’s collaboration with Amazon, saying it demonstrated a “mind-boggling” lack of awareness about those most in need of help this winter. 

“In the unlikely event that someone in fuel poverty owned an Alexa, they would have turned it off to save energy and then had it seized by a bailiff chasing energy debt,” a spokesperson for Fuel Poverty Action said.

The government claims that the advice it provides through Amazon devices could save families “at least £100 a year”. Tips include turning off radiators in rooms not in use and lowering the temperature your boiler operates at.

Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 charities, said: “Fifteen  million people in the UK are in debt to their energy supplier, with many owing over £1000. A £100 saving won’t make a dent in that.”

Data privacy campaigners also warned that the partnership could leave vulnerable people at risk of being profiled by advertisers.

Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, said, “This is a bizarre gimmick that gives free government advertising for Amazon’s Echo devices rather than meaningful help to struggling families. 

“Amazon has very opaque data processing practices and the government should think twice about the risks of families being profiled and targeted by data brokers before encouraging them to flag to the company that they’re struggling with energy costs.”

Although the government is not paying Amazon to support its public information campaign, it comes after the US company has been handed more than £425m worth of public contracts between 2020 and 2022.

Amazon’s main UK subsidiary paid no corporation tax for the second year in a row in 2022 after benefiting from tax credits on a proportion of its £1.6bn of investment in infrastructure, including robotic equipment at its warehouses.