Four days of strike action are on the cards at chocolate crumb manufacturer Meadow Foods over a 2% pay offer, according to union Unite.
Staff at Meadow Foods, at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor, are due to walk-out at 6pm on Saturday (12 January), after voting for strike action over a 2% pay offer for the year starting July 2018.
The action, which is expected to end on Tuesday 15 January, is planned to hit night and day shifts over the four days.
Unite, the union that represents more than half of the site’s 71 employees, said there was still time for the management to come to the table for constructive talks.
“Our members have overwhelmingly rejected a shoddy 2% pay offer and are seeking an increase in line with the retail price index, currently running at 3.2%, to keep up with the soaring cost of living,” said Dave Monaghan, regional officer at Unite.
“This site produces ingredients for other manufacturers and, if the strike goes ahead, we predict it will have a negative impact on the factory’s ability to keep up with customer demand.”
Meadow Foods said it was involved in pay negotiations with a small number of unionised employees at the site in Holme-on-Spalding-Moor. It added that it was “a fair and generous employer with no history of industrial action”, and that it hoped to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
“The fair and sustainable pay increase proposed by Meadow Foods is supported by the majority of our 300 workforce and so we are disappointed that a small group of employees at our Holme-on-Spalding-Moor site has decided to take this action,” a Meadow Foods spokesperson said.
“Meadow Foods’ management remains committed to positively resolving this issue as soon as possible. Our door remains open for continued constructive negotiations.”
The chocolate crumb manufacturer added that it did not expect there to be any significant impact on its customers.
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