SPALDING, England — Hundreds of Unite members at the Bakkavor food factory here have voted overwhelmingly to continue their strike until the company improves its pay offer, the union announced Dec. 12. As the strike enters its 12th week, bosses are stepping up efforts to try to break the union.
Strikers told the Militant the company, which has 21 factories in the U.K., is stepping up efforts to bus in strikebreakers, offering them 18 pounds per hour ($22.80), while striking workers have been earning the national minimum wage of 11.44 pounds or just above.
Donna-Maria Lee, chief people officer at Bakkavor, told the press that the majority of employees continue working. She claims that over 700 of them have accepted the company’s pay offer, including some strikers. This figure includes salaried staff, who are not part of the collective agreement, and temporary agency workers. Striking workers say that although a good number are working, the vast majority have not signed individual agreements, hoping the union wins a better deal.
The company is seeking to eliminate paid breaks and shift premiums that the union has held onto at Spalding, even as they’ve been eroded at the company’s other plants.
Along with a daily presence on the picket line, workers have organized mass meetings, expanded pickets and a lively march through the town center. They’ve received support and donations from other Unite branches, as well as a solidarity message from the Rail, Maritime and Transport union branch at King’s Cross station in London. It was delivered when two of its members visited the picket line.
Strikers have been boosted by news that Unite members at five Princes food factories have voted to walk out. Workers at the company’s Cardiff factory are striking for two days in the lead-up to Christmas, with further action to be announced at other sites, including Long Sutton and Wisbech near Spalding.