Trade union Unite is threatening to disrupt fruit and vegetable deliveries to The Co-operative in a dispute over haulage.
More than 700 of the supermarket’s drivers are planning to stage a 48-hour strike on Monday 21 March, accompanied by a continuous work-to-rule aimed at disrupting fresh food deliveries such as fruit, vegetables and milk.
According to Unite, the dispute centres on the decision by the Co-operative Group to transfer 87 Coventry-based drivers to Eddie Stobart. The move led to a vote for strike action by drivers who expressed concern about the implications of the future outsourcing of jobs on pay and employment conditions.
The Co-operative has insisted it will be fully stocked despite any industrial action, adding that it has contingency plans in place. Eddie Stobart was not immediately available for comment when contacted by FPJ.
Unite says the majority of the Coventry drivers are considering taking a severance package offered by management as they are “disgusted at the way they have been treated by the ‘ethical’ Co-op and fearful at the treatment they would receive if they were TUPE’d [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)]” to Eddie Stobart.
Talks are scheduled between the union and retailer tomorrow (Friday 18 March), mediated by conciliation service Acas. Unite’s wishlist focuses on a list of suggestions put forward by Coventry shop stewards to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Unite national officer for retail distribution, Adrian Jones, said: “Our Coventry members are caught between a rock and a hard place. They are angry that the so-called ethical Co-op has betrayed their years of dedicated service, but have no wish to work for Eddie Stobart, an employer that has a very poor reputation in the way it treats its staff. They are prepared to wash their hands of both these two tainted organisations, unless other options can be agreed.'
'The 48-hour strike will be felt by Co-op customers across the UK. The Co-op has the delivery of fresh produce, such as milk and fruit and veg, as a top business priority in the battle for supermarket sales. This will be severely disrupted with the knock-on impact for its reputation with customers.”
A spokesman for The Co-operative denied this, however. “Product availability will be unaffected by the proposed strike and we are in talks with the union at ACAS tomorrow to resolve the matter,” he said.
The Co-operative driver members striking are based at Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland; Castlewood, north Derbyshire; Chester-Le-Street, County Durham; Coventry; Inverness; Newhouse, Lanarkshire; Plymouth and Thurrock in Essex.
Unite is also preparing a legal challenge to elements of the Co-op’s severance package, which it describes as “an attack on workers’ rights”. Jones added: “These macho-management tactics are not the way to deal with this dispute; throwing money at the problem for it to go away does not address the crux of the dispute – that our members don’t want to be transferred to employers with Eddie Stobart’s controversial reputation.”
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