Workers at Oldham-based bakery manufacturer Park Cakes will walk out on strike for four days this month, following a branch meeting with union members.
Ian Hodson, national president of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), confirmed that around 70 staff, present at the meeting on 29 October, voted to walk out for 24 hours on 11, 14, 22 and 30 November.
Workers at the meeting claimed that changes to employment contracts could result in them losing up to £4,000 a year in pay.
In September, BFAWU claimed that Park Cake Bakeries was attempting to bypass new legislation covering agency workers. It also claimed that the firm was planning to introduce new contracts without consultation and without agreement.
A spokesperson for Park Cakes said: “Despite the fact that the new contract has no effect on the pay of any employee recruited by the company before September, a small minority of 80 people turning up to a branch meeting determined that strike action should be taken.
“The union is already aware that the forthcoming strike action will have no affect on the company’s position, but may damage the business to such an extent that employees jobs may be put at risk.”
He added that the company had introduced the new contracts for new employees in order to control costs and remain competitive following the effects of the recession, and in order to safeguard existing jobs at its Bolton and Oldham sites.
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