Wincanton staff on Worksop B&Q contract end strikes after accepting new pay offer

Wincanton’s ongoing dispute with the Unite union over staff pay has been resolved after they accepted a pay increase worth 10.75%.

It means strikes at B&Q’s national distribution centre in Worksop have come to an end and 450 Wincanton employees will now return to work, having downed tools in November.

Unite said the one-year pay deal equated to warehouse workers receiving 6.75% backdated to July as well as recognition and bonus payments, meaning the workers will receive the equivalent of a 10.75% pay rise.

A Wincanton spokeswoman said: “We’re pleased to have found a resolution with Unite and for our colleagues.

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“We value the vital work our colleagues carry out every day and are happy to be moving forward.”

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, claimed the result was due to members not backing down: “For workers wanting to know how they can improve their jobs, pay and conditions in these increasingly difficult times, they should look no further than Unite’s members at Wincanton whose solidarity during the strike was key to this win,” she said.

Unite regional secretary for the East Midlands, Paresh Patel, said: “It is a result that will surely stick in the throat of Worksop MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who told our members they would be better off cancelling their Unite membership and accepting the original deal of four per cent.

“It wasn’t Brendan Clarke-Smith or the Tories who stood up for decent working class people in Bassetlaw, it was Unite the union.”