Now Tesco, Boots and M&S lunchtime meal deals are under threat more than 500 staff at UK’s biggest sandwich maker vow to go on strike
- Greencore threatened the action, with 500-plus workers demanding pay rise
- The company reported full-year revenue of £1.7billion up from £1.3billion in 2021
Tesco, Boots and M&S meal deals are under threat as hundreds of staff at Britain’s biggest sandwich maker are set to go on strike.
The action is threatened at Greencore, which supplies sandwiches to all the major supermarkets, ranging from Tesco to Aldi, Lidl and M&S.
Its products can also be found in Boots, coffee shop chains and petrol station convenience stores.
More than 500 workers at Greencore, who are demanding an increase to their £10.53-an-hour pay, will strike from September 11 to October 9.
Greencore made 975million sandwiches and other food-to-go products last year from 16 factories.
The Tesco meal deal could be under threat after Greencore workers threatened to go on strike in a row over pay
The firm said some 52 per cent of its sandwiches that are bought in supermarkets are part of a meal deal.
The Unite union says the workers at Greencore’s Manton Wood site in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, will walk out over what it calls poverty levels of pay and claims it is likely to lead to a shortage of sandwiches on the shelves.
In October, Greencore reported full-year revenue of £1.7billion – up from £1.3billion in 2021.
A rise in the sales of meal deals has been driven by a return to the office and the cost of living crisis.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Greencore workers do difficult work to ensure sandwiches reach supermarket shelves across the country,.
‘Yet their employer, whilst making substantial profits, sees fit not to share the spoils with its workers.’
A Greencore spokesman said: ‘Having been in discussions with union representatives regarding pay in respect to colleagues at our Manton Wood site since January, we are disappointed that Greencore’s final pay offer, which we believe to be both strong and competitive, has been rejected by union members on a small turnout.
The sandwich-maker supplies shops up and down the country, including Boots and M&S, as well as petrol stations and convenience stores
‘We will be undertaking a number of planning and mitigation measures at the site in the coming weeks in order to prevent any disruption to service levels for our customers should potential industrial action take place.
‘In parallel, we will continue to liaise with both Unite and our Manton Wood colleagues with the aim of reaching agreement.’
Workers at a factory which produces KP Nuts have agreed to postpone strike action following a new pay offer.
Trade union Unite previously warned that its members at the site in Rotherham, South Yorks, would start a week-long walkout on Tuesday and take two more weeks of strikes from September 18 if the dispute over pay was not resolved.
After a meeting with KP Snacks management on Monday, strike action will be suspended while workers vote on the revised pay offer from the company, Unite said.
Speaking before the latest pay offer, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘The workers have made it abundantly clear that they’re sick of being paid peanuts while the company rakes in tens of millions in profit.
‘That’s why the workers are determined to secure a fair pay deal.’ The workers previously rejected an 8% pay offer.’
Statistics published last month by sandwich-maker Greencore revealed that more than half the sandwiches sold by UK supermarkets are bought as part of meal deals.
Greencore has distribution and manufacturing sites dotted around the UK, including a dedicated M&S site in Northampton, and a food to go unit in West Drayton, Heathrow, where it prepares sandwiches, wraps, and baguettes.
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