Staff at four British Sugar sites are set to vote on possible industrial action due to a dispute over pay.
Workers at the plants in Wissingham, Cantley, Bury St Edmunds and Newark will take part in a ballot in the coming month, the Unite union confirmed to just-food today (26 July).
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“My best guess is in about four or five weeks time,” Unite regional officer Tony Ellingford said. “I still am not exactly sure when the ballot will be as we are still collating member information to make sure we conform with the statutory law, which, as you can imagine is extremely strict.”
Unite’s 250 members at the four sites will vote on industrial action after they rejected a pay increase of 3.5% from British Sugar, which is part of Associated British Foods.
The union wants a pay hike equal to the retail prices index measure of inflation – which stands at 5% – plus 0.5% for the year from April 2011.
“British Sugar is a highly profitable company and, despite its complaints that the sugar beet crop was hit by the bad weather during the winter, the company is well able to afford a decent pay rise,” Ellingford said.
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By GlobalData“Our members rejected the 3.5% because it was well below the current rate of inflation. Household and energy bills are soaring and, in rural East Anglia with poor public transport links, employees have to use their cars to get to work and are particularly hard pressed by ever-rising petrol costs.”
Ellingford added that Unite was “keen to sit down with management to reach a fair and equitable agreement”.
A spokesperson for British Sugar said the offer was “fair and reasonable within the current economic conditions and is above average pay awards in the external market place”.
The spokesperson claimed that “all components” of the package was backed by union officials, who recommended to staff that they accept the offer.
“Members of the GMB union have accepted the pay offer. However, members of the Unite union have opted to conduct a ballot to vote on industrial action and we await the outcome,” the spokesperson said.
British Sugar, the spokesperson added, had “undertaken all necessary steps to mitigate any disruption” to the four sites and the delivery of its products.
The GMB union, which represents fewer staff at the four sites than Unite, said a vote of its members had in fact backed industrial action.
However, GMB organiser Glen Holdom told just-food that, under the union’s rules, a two-thirds majority is required to push ahead with strikes.
Holdom called British Sugar’s comments “a little bit mischievous” and said GMB in “no way, shape or form” accepted the refiner’s pay offer.
Should the Unite members support strike action, Holdom said the GMB would encourage its members “not to cross the picket line”.
