Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose could face food product shortages as a result, Unite union warns
UK supermarkets Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose could face shelf shortages due to strike action at a food manufacturing plant, the Unite union has warned.
Over 700 workers at a Bakkavor site in Spalding, Lincolnshire, are due to take continuous strike action from 27 September in protest over low pay, the union said in a statement.
Bakkavor supplies UK supermarkets, including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, with ready-made meals, soups, dips, salads, desserts, pizzas and breads.
Bakkavor told the BBC that it remained hopeful that the strike action would be called off as it had “already put a good pay offer forward”. The company added that it was disappointed that Unite had “lobbied” members at the factory over the strike action after the company proposed a pay rise of 7.8 per cent for the lowest-paid workers, and 6.4 per cent across all other grades.
However, in a statement, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham described Bakkavor’s most recent pay offer as “an insult”.
She said: “Bakkavor has built a highly profitable business on the backs of workers and yet fails to recognise their hard work in incredibly tough working conditions. Our members are rightly angry after years of below-inflation pay rises, the most recent offer is an insult. Bakkavor needs to rapidly think again and come back with an improved pay deal.”
Unite said Bakkavor staff earn just above the minimum wage, while the company reported half-year profits of £55 million for 2024.
According to the union, workers at the company spend long shifts working in near-freezing temperatures, doing repetitive and demanding manual work for very low pay. Some employees at Bakkavor Spalding have been forced to use food banks in order to survive, it said.
Unite regional officer Sam Hennessy said: “Bakkavor is stalling and refusing to negotiate constructively and take an approach of ’my way or the highway. Strike action will inevitably cause disruption and shortages to supermarkets across the UK but this dispute is entirely of Bakkavor’s own making. We urge Bakkavor to listen to the concerns of its staff and provide them with an improved and fair pay offer before strike action starts this month.”
Sadie Woodhouse, general manager at Bakkavor Spalding, told the BBC: “We are clearly disappointed that the union has advocated strike action despite our efforts to positively negotiate with them, and us putting a good deal on the table, well above inflation and the National Living Wage.
“We respect the role that unions play generally in protecting workers’ rights. However, it makes no sense for a union to call for a strike against a business that is already looking after its people, creating employment in the local community, investing in training and putting forward above-inflation pay rises.”
Woodhouse told the BBC that Bakkavor was committed to running a “successful, sustainable business that contributes to the economy”.
