Staff at 2 Sisters Food Company’s Corby facility have voted to strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
A total of 91% of the 59% of staff that are members of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union voted in favour of the strikes, which will start in March.
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Speaking to just-food today (29 January) the union’s regional officer for the Midlands, Tony Lewis, said staff were striking over the company’s failure to deliver a pay rise for “three, going on four years”. He added that the company was trying to implement a three-on, two-off shift pattern which workers were unhappy about. These decisions were being imposed without consulting staff, Lewis stressed.
just-food reported last March on a strike at the same plant, over the same issues.
“Since then, nothing has changed,” said Lewis. “We were promised a pay rise in August (2013) and they’ve reneged on that.”
A spokesperson at 2 Sisters Corby declined to comment on whether staff had been offered a pay increase last year but confirmed there had been “no pay rise since 2011”.
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By GlobalDataStrikes will begin in March and will occur once a fortnight Lewis confirmed. The spokesperson at 2 Sisters Corby said the company had “no notification” of that, adding that it was something that would be negotiated based on “meeting the needs of customers”.
Lewis said: “We have told the employer we are willing to negotiate to resolve the issue. We want a pay rise for members and we want the employer to withdraw the proposed shift patterns. Some people have childcare and transport issues and it is difficult for most people.”
The spokesperson at 2 Sisters Corby said the company had been talking to staff for “some time regarding their terms and conditions” and had proposed a number of possibilities for the future based on improving business efficiency.
“One thing that has been reported is that we are making changes to the existing staff conditions without consulting them. That is something we would not do,” she added.
