A planned strike on Wednesday 5 January of nearly 1,200 workers at Heinz’ flagship factory near Wigan has been called off after a new pay offer from the company. Talks on 4 January between the Unite union and management resulted in the new package being put to workers. The union agreed to suspend the strike ahead of a fresh ballot of its members over the offer, but said if the offer is rejected there will be another strike on 11 January. Under the new deal, workers would receive a 3.5% rise in the first year plus a UKP 200 (Euro 237) one-off payment and a 3.4% increase in the second year. A further increase for shift workers of between 0.6% and 1.6% is also part of the deal. The union earlier held two 24-hour strikes in December. The first strike, on 15 December, took place in reaction of a pay offer below the inflation rate, with by contrast the profit margins of the food manufacturing giant rising quickly.
English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12115396;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12067138; http://cms.iuf.org/?q=node/661
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2011.