Dutch meat giant Vion today (5 March) expressed its disappointment at the prospect of fresh strikes at a site in the UK.
Vion workers at the company’s Cambuslang site are planning a further two days of industrial action over pay on Thursday (8 March) and next Monday. The two days of strikes follow a 24-hour stoppage that took place on 20 February.
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Workers and unions have been in discussions with Vion since October last year, following their rejection of a 2% pay increase and changes to holiday entitlement. In a statement last week, Unite said it had been left with “no option” but to strike. It claimed talks had been held at ACAS to try and reach a resolution but that Vion had “refused to budge”.
“We hope Vion will reconsider but they should know that we are prepared to dig-in for the long haul,” Unite convenor Scot Walker said.
In a statement today, Vion said it “continues to be disappointed” with the union’s stance. It said it had “presented a very fair and reasonable” proposal to workers “especially given the current challenging economic climate”.
The company added: “The business has taken the appropriate steps to ensure continuity of service to those customers supplied from the Cambuslang operation.”
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By GlobalDataIn October last year, Vion announced its intention to potentially abandon organic poultry because of reduced demand from UK consumers.
The news followed confirmation of plans to close Vion’s Sheffield sausage site in the UK, with the potential loss of 205 jobs. A month later and the company announced plans to revamp one of its UK poultry sites, putting 115 jobs on the line.
