Nearly 200 Sainsbury’s drivers at its Haydock, Merseyside DC plan to walk out tomorrow (Friday 20 June) in a dispute over changes to their pensions.

Union Unite claims the strike will cause “substantial” disruption, as 197 drivers begin their shifts two hours later than usual.

A further 1,700 drivers and warehouse staff at the supermarket’s distribution centres in Hams Hall, Elstree, Basingstoke, Waltham Point and Rye Park will also be balloted for industrial action, it added.

Unite said Sainsbury’s closed its final salary pension scheme last year and instead offers another scheme that the union sees as “inferior”.

Regional officer for road transport, Matt Draper, said: “We want Sainsbury’s to get around the negotiating table, so that our members have the opportunity to enjoy the same level of company contributions to their pensions that top managers now enjoy. We want to end this ‘them and us’ attitude pension provision.”

The union is considering taking more industrial action until negotiations with the supermarket take place.

A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: “We want to offer the same type of pensions to everyone working at Sainsbury’s. Over 100,000 people participate in our Defined Contribution pension which we enhanced as part of the changes. The remaining 9% of our colleagues who were in a Defined Benefit scheme have been transferred to this Defined Contribution scheme. This followed extensive consultation and we re-shaped our initial proposals to reflect some of the feedback. All pension benefits are being protected and the changes have been applied consistently across all colleagues, including managers.”

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