A senior Bakkavor executive has accused a trade union of being more focused on publicity rather than resolving a strike at a UK facility that has entered its sixth week.
Commenting on her recent meeting with Unite the Union, Bakkavor chief people officer Donna-Maria Lee said that the union appears more focused on “lobbying and publicity, and politics.”
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In response, the union accused Bakkavor of “scaremongering”.
Lee’s remarks come after several weeks of protests, including recent demonstrations in Reykjavik, Iceland, where Unite activists targeted the Gudmundsson brothers, the largest shareholders of the UK food-to-go-heavyweight, in an effort to influence the company’s leadership.
The strike, which began in late September at its factory in Spalding in eastern England, was organised by Unite in response to what the union has described as a “derisory pay offer” from Bakkavor, a supplier to major UK grocers.
In response to allegations of inadequate pay increases, Bakkavor said in a statement: “In September Bakkavor put forward an improved offer of 7.8% to its lowest paid colleagues and 6.4% across all other grades – well above the national living wage and inflation, which now stands at 1.7%.”
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By GlobalDataOver 700 Unite union members were reported to be participating in continuous strike action from 27 September at the Spalding facility.
Bakkavor said that while the union may have 700 members out of a 1,400-strong workforce, only about “450 are not attending work.”
More than two-thirds of Spalding employees, over 950 individuals, have “not engaged” in the strike and continue to report to work as usual, the company statement read.
Bakkavor has now proposed a “discretionary £350 ($451.54) bonus” for each employee at its Spalding site in an effort to end ongoing strike action, in addition to previously announced “inflation pay rise”.
The company also noted that over the past three years, the “pay rate for the lowest paid colleagues” at the Spalding site “has risen by 22.8%”, and “all other grades by 21.2%”, both exceeding the UK’s CPI growth of 21% during the same period.
Nationally, Bakkavor noted that its “proposed pay rises have been welcomes across its other 20 UK sites,” with more than 13,500 employees receiving their pay increases.
Commenting on Bakkavor’s latest statement, a Unite spokesperson told Just Food that “Bakkavor are running scared and fearmongering with their latest attempt to explain their untenable position”.
It added: “While their CEO makes millions……..their workers in Lincolnshire are having to rely on foodbanks to make ends meet.
“Strike action has crippled their production and high street customers are now seeing empty shelves. Bakkavor need to stop spreading lies and get back around the negotiating table with a meaningful offer that is acceptable to our members.”
Despite concerns about “disruptions to the UK food supply”, the company saidthe strike at Spalding would not affect the UK’s Christmas food supply, as its Christmas ranges are made at other UK sites.
To address the “short-term disruption” to soup production, the company said it has “contingency planning” in place for the product, traditionally made at Spalding.
Bakkavor Mike Edwards CEO said: “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 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.”
In September, Bakkavor proposed the closure of a factory in Wigan that employs around 750 people.
