The Co-op denies claims from Unite that merging two of its distribution centres into a new £20 million site at Avonmouth will damage employee rights.
Michael Draper, Unite national officer for retail distribution, believes the move "smacks of privatisation" and could put over 200 jobs in danger.
However, the Co-op told FPJ that job losses will be minimal with staff at Chelston offered the opportunity to transfer to the new Avonmouth site (set to open in September 2013), whilst employees at Portbury will be free to transfer across under Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) regulations.
The distribution centers at Chelston and Portbury are set to close in November 2012 and April 2013 respectively.
Mark Leonard, The Co-operative Food’s head of logistics, said: “We will provide financial assistance for every employee who is entitled to take redundancy to help them find new work, retrain or learn new skills.”
Leonard says the new 435,750 sq ft facility at Avonmouth will employ up to 900 staff and will serve around 492 Co-operative food stores in the Bristol, Somerset and South Wales areas, replacing several smaller depots in each region.
Unite claim the Co-op is in breach of a previous agreement not to ‘go down the contracting route,’ and has condemned the decision for work at the new site to be contracted out to transport and logistics giant Nobert Dentressangle.
“This is the thin end of the wedge to privatisation of the Co-op’s services and this decision is soiling the Co-op’s 19th century principles of mutuality for the common good,” said Matt Draper, Unite's national officer for retail distribution.
He added: “The fact that the Co-op has got the privatisation ‘bug’ is to be deplored. We believe that this will lead to job losses and a diminution in the terms and conditions of those still employed; with no guarentee that the level of service to the local Co-op shops will be maintained. We would ask the Co-op to re-think its decision to outsource so much of this work to a private company.”
The Co-op previously contracted out work at its Andover-based distribution center in 2010; a move the company described at the time as “a temporary measure to deal with the tough economic climate."
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