Striking workers at Bakkavor Spalding have been asked to reject the latest pay offer, leading to the company releasing a statement.
The strike involving hundreds of workers is into its sixth week.
Unite the Union met representatives from the firm this week where workers were presented with a new offer which includes a £350 bonus.
A staff vote on the proposal has been launched and is running until Thursday, November 14.
Unite has recommended workers reject the offer though claiming the rise offered is ‘the bare minimum’ ahead of the the national minimum wage rising to £12.21 next May and called the bonus ‘offensive’ saying it would amount to £6.73 a week after tax.
It’s led to Bakkavor releasing a statement this morning (Thursday, November 8).
Donna-Maria Lee, chief people officer at Bakkavor said: “It is now six weeks since Unite the Union commenced strike action with a minority of our Spalding colleagues.
“It is now clear to us that it is becoming increasingly difficult to resolve this dispute with Unite and get people back to work anytime soon.
“We have engaged the Union in discussions since the start, and our CEO met with them recently out of a genuine desire to resolve the issue.
“Whilst a material discretionary bonus (of £350 per person) and an above inflation pay rise have been tabled for Spalding colleagues, the Union has now advised us that they have put it to ballot, with a recommendation to reject our offer.
“Coupled with this, working colleagues have reported being made to feel uncomfortable by the strikers, and the Union has set out on what it describes as “an international campaign” to directly lobby our stakeholders – when the real task for them is to settle a dispute in Spalding.
“It takes both parties to engage and whilst we have sought to resolve the issue, I met with the Union this week and it is clear that Unite has little interest in moving forward with the situation at Spalding and is intent on lobbying, publicity and politics, rather than solving a strike that they called for.”
Mike Edwards CEO at Bakkavor concludes: “In the Autumn Budget last week, the Government set out the twin aim of supporting workers and creating economic growth. We support both of these things at Bakkavor and in truth they cannot actually be separated. Our colleague pay and benefits are well above the minimum wage and ahead of inflation.
“The fact that our company’s ‘Long Service Awards’ have celebrated more than 4,000 colleagues for milestones between five and 35-year periods of service over the last two years shows that people choose to stay at Bakkavor and for a length of time, which would be viewed as remarkable in many industry sectors today.
“Coupled with looking after our people, which we do, we have an obligation to be a sustainable business. Our pay deals need to be fair to colleagues across all our 21 sites. We believe the offer proposed is entirely fair based on the context in which we are operating.
“The Union has a right to campaign, but our responsibility as a business – to our colleagues, customers, shareholders and to the communities in which we are a major employer – is to be sustainable, and fair, for the long term. We have been through a global pandemic and a seismic cost-of-living crisis and managing our business well ensures we will continue to create growth – growth for the economy, job creation and training opportunities for young people across the UK.
“Our offer of a pay rise and bonus to Spalding colleagues has now gone to a union ballot and Unite are recommending their members reject it. If this happens, we will be at an impasse (a ‘failure to agree’) and we will work to find a way to offer the increases to rates of pay and the bonus to all colleagues at Spalding on an individual basis.
“If accepted by individuals, this will see new rates implemented, back pay processed and bonus paid before Christmas which is what the majority of our Spalding colleagues want.”
Unite claim 750 people are on strike at the West Marsh Road while Bakkavor say its ‘circa 450’.
It said of those working “We would like to thank them for their loyalty and support in the face of external attempts to disrupt and discredit the business.”
It was released in response to Unite’s statement about its meeting with Bakkavor.
It states “Last Monday, we agreed with the company to remain neutral throughout this process, but the site management has completely disregarded this commitment, choosing instead to actively spread fear and false allegations with no evidence among staff in briefings.
“We are calling on workers to stand together and reject this offer.
“The site managements refusal to allow honest, two-way communication with members, their disregard for our neutrality agreement and their attempt to control the narrative are simply unacceptable. We’ve kept our end of the deal; the company has not.”
