ROCHDALE, England — After five days of strike action at Tetrosyl’s warehouse and distribution operation here, north of Manchester, some 80 workers are determined to prevent bosses from imposing a substantial wage cut.
Workers were told they must sign a new contract by 4 p.m., Dec. 23 or be sacked. “The new contract results in warehouse staff pay being reduced by between £4,000 [$5,400] and £7,000 per year, due to the removal of a shift supplement and paid breaks,” Michelle Byrne, area organizer for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, said in a statement. Tetrosyl is Europe’s largest maker of car care products.
Truck drivers — also members of the union — who pick up stock from the warehouse for B&M, a major U.K. retailer, are refusing to cross the picket line.
Striking workers describe how the number of agency workers in the warehouse varies through the year, but to weaken the strike bosses have expanded the number they’re now using.
Like in several recent union disputes in the U.K., the workers don’t have union recognition — that’s one of the demands of the strike. Byrne told the Militant that before the bosses moved to impose their wage-slashing contract there were just 19 Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers members there. Over 60 workers have joined the union since to fight this attack.
“We urge the company to engage in talks with USDAW,” Byrne said. To date bosses have refused to talk to union officers. She said they plan further strike days.