Bakkavor staff set for week of strike

Around 500 staff at the Spalding site of Bakkavor are expected to go out on strike from November 1 for a week.

A ballot by union Unite saw an ‘overwhelming’ vote to take strike action after a pay deal could not be agreed.

Negotiations over pay broke down and the conciliation service ACAS called in.

Members of Unite were balloted in September and more than 93 per cent of those who voted were for strike action.

The union says the expectation was for around 500 of the Spalding site staff to strike for the week.

“We are very disappointed that we have been unable to resolve the dispute as we believe we have proposed a pay award which is both competitive in the local market and sustainable for the Spalding business,” said a statement from Bakkavor.

“We have detailed contingency plans in place to ensure that we can continue to serve our customers and that any disruption is kept to a minimum. We are fortunate to have the scale and flexibility of operations to support this,” it continued.

Rav Assi, of the East Midlands branch of Unite, said the action was restricted to the Spalding site as pay negotiations at other sites had been successful.

“It will cause major disruption as its 24-hour shifts running seven days,” said Mr Assi.

The company’s final offer of 6.5 per cent was not recommended by the union as being acceptable.

“The company initially offered 3.8 per cent which was unanimously rejected. We wanted ten per cent, and that was before the cost of living was high as it is now,” said Mr Assi.

The Bakkavor statement said: “Our colleagues remain our priority and, against a backdrop of ongoing macro uncertainties and significant levels of inflation, we are focused on protecting jobs across our business.”

Legal advice is also being sought by the union as Bakkavor said the role of convenor was no-longer a full-time position. Mr Assi said the role had been recognised as being full-time and had been such for seven years.

He said other Bakkavor sites had agreed a pay rise of between five and 5.9 per cent but the Spalding site was balloted after negotiations stalled.

The union says Bakkavor Group is ‘a profitable company’ and 2021 had an operating profit of £102m.

Mr Assi said pay negotiations had sparked potential industrial action in 2019, but the situation was resolved.

ACAS, the independent arbitration service, was party to negotiations earlier this month.