strike

More than 200 drivers and warehouse staff at Indesit UK are to carry out four days of industrial action from the end of next week.

The strikes come after further negotiations between the white goods manufacturer and union Unite failed to resolve long-standing grievances about pay.

Unite has announced a 24 hour strike by staff from 6am on 21 August, a 48 hour strike starting at 6am on 27 August, and another 24 hour strike from 6am on 1 September.

The action will affect 12 Indesit sites at Andover, Barnsley, Chepstow, Gateshead, Grangemouth, Hayes, Mallusk, Raunds, Sharpness, Trafford Park, Wednesbury and West Thurrock.

Union members will also be conducting a work-to-rule from a minute past midnight on 18 August to 6am on 20 August and from a minute past midnight on the 24 August to 6am on 26 August.

The union was originally set to announce strike action back in July, after a ballot that showed overwhelming support for such a move in reaction to two years of sub-inflation pay settlements and plans by Indesit to lower the value of redundancy payouts.

In the ballot, 93% of Unite members voted for strike action while 97% voted for industrial action short of strike.

No action was formally announced last month, however, as the union and management subsequently agreed to a fresh round of negotiation.

While that recent negotiation has seen the company shift its stance on the issue of redundancy pay, it has failed to amend the “derisory” 1.5% pay increases it offered staff back in January 2014 and again in January this year when inflation stood at 2% and 1.7% respectively, said Unite regional officer Mark Plumb.

“Our members are tired of being fobbed off year-on-year with one-off bonuses, which may never materialise or when they do are worth virtually nothing,” he said. “Our members are seeking a substantial increase in their basic pay after years of below-inflation pay rises.”

Unite has suggested the strikes will “severely disrupt” the delivery of more than 16,000 items a week to end users and trade outlets across the UK, including freezers, fridges, washing machines and cookers.

A spokesman for Indesit said: "We are disappointed that Unite has taken this course of action. We have made a number of concessions in our ongoing efforts to avoid strike action, including additional bonus options to enhance the pay offer.

"Our priority is to minimise any service disruption to both our customers and our retail partners, so we remain committed to dialogue with Unite and hopeful the action they have called can be averted."

Indesit UK's Hotpoint Logistics team won both the Training Award and the Operational & Compliance Excellence Award at this year’s Motor Transport Awards in July.

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