SPALDING, England — As they enter their fifth week on strike for higher pay, Unite members at the food giant Bakkavor say their union is getting stronger. Over 100 workers in the plant have now joined the 700 who initially went on strike, said shop steward Mark Preston.
Two hundred strikers, some bringing their children, marched through the town center here Oct. 22, blowing horns and passing out leaflets. Bakkavor bosses “have made a pay offer which will mean our wages are still way behind the recent cost-of-living rises,” their leaflet says. “Only by standing together and withdrawing our labour can we show the company how we feel.”
A similar number showed up when Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham visited their picket line Oct. 16. “If the company thinks our members will go quietly and give in, they have another thing coming,” Graham said. “Bakkavor will be facing the full force of Unite.”
“This is a very important fight,” Andrea Badarau told the Militant Oct. 27. Badarau, a butcher in a nearby cut-and-kill meat plant, spoke of the stakes for workers in local factories. “If they win, we all win.”