Aldi, Sainsbury's and Tesco shoppers face ready meal shortage as North Wales factory workers set to strike
Supermarket ready meal supplies might be hit as workers at a leading producer gear up for industrial action over a reported "fire and rehire" threat. Employees at the Oscar Mayer facility in Wrexham could see their pay reduced by £2,000 as the company intends to eliminate paid breaks and extra pay for bank holiday shifts, reports the Mirror.
Workers who refuse the roughly 10% cut of their net income allegedly face threats of "fire and rehire", implying job loss without any severance or redundancy package. A total of 550 union members have agreed to initiate a four-week strike beginning on Thursday, September 12.
The Wrexham plant has 1,500 workers producing two million ready meals a week. The factory makes ready meals for most of the UK's biggest grocers including Asda, Waitrose, Aldi, Sainsbury's and Tesco.
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Unite warned of possible supply problems to supermarkets but an Oscar Mayer spokesperson said: "We have robust contingency plans in place should they be needed, and we do not expect any disruption to supply for our customers." One of the pledges of the new Labour government is to ban so-called "fire and rehire" but it is not clear when a ban will be in place.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Oscar Mayers' behaviour towards these already low paid workers is despicable. There is no justification whatsoever to slash their pay any further or for the threats of fire and rehire an abhorrent practice that should be banned outright. Our members are absolutely right to strike and they have Unite's unflinching support."
The Mirror spoke to one worker who asked not to be named but has been at the factory for 10 years. She says she personally faces losing around £3,000 a year and describes gruelling 12-hour shifts in temperatures of between 5 and 7 degrees.
She said: "A lot of us are tired already. We are fighting for the future. It is better to lose some small amount for four weeks than lose £3,000 year after year. Everything is more expensive now. It is autumn and our bills will be going up soon."
Pay starts at the national minimum wage of £11.44 and those on the night shift get an extra £1 an hour. In the strike ballot there was a 76 per cent turnout of union members who voted by a 98% majority for the walkout. Oscar Mayer told staff in April that they would lose their paid breaks and their enhanced payment rates for working bank holidays.
The firm said it had "updated" the proposals after "engaging" with staff and that current plans meant two 20-minute breaks would become unpaid while a third would remain paid. In a letter seen by the Mirror, the company said: "These proposals were not made lightly but made to seek to ensure a long-term sustainable future for our business."
It added that unless staff agreed to the changes by June, "one option that could be considered by the business would be to give notice to terminate employees' current employment contracts and offer re-engagement on new contracts that incorporate the proposed changes".
A spokesperson for Oscar Mayer, added: "These changes would put us in line with most other businesses in our sector and similar businesses in the local area. The proposals have been subject to a full and proper consultation process with our colleagues, which is on-going, and we have engaged fully with Unite during this process. We remain committed to an ongoing dialogue as we work to reach agreement with our colleagues."
But Unite regional officer Jono Davies said: "Oscar Mayer will have to explain to the supermarkets that they cannot be supplied with ready meals because of the atrocious way it is treating its staff. Strike action will continue to escalate until the company drops its fire and rehire threats, takes the cuts off the table and begins negotiations with Unite to find an acceptable solution."
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: "We are committed to updating Britain's employment protections so they are fit for our modern economy and the future of work. We will be bringing forward legislation soon to put an end to unscrupulous fire and rehire practices, which have no place in a modern labour market."
Andrew Ranger, Labour MP for Wrexham, said "The current situation at the Oscar Mayer in Wrexham is of great concern to me both in terms of the successful future of the business and the negative impact on the local workforce. If Oscar Mayer were to be one of the last businesses to utilise fire and rehire before it is outlawed, then the reputational damage to the company could be significant. Businesses like Oscar Mayer are essential to Wrexham and the local economy, and I want to see them, and their workforce succeed in partnership."
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