Morrisons workers on strike in Yorkshire: ‘We supply food, now we won’t have enough on to survive’

Around a thousand workers from Morrisons are on strike today after the supermarket chain forced changes to pension contributions which could leave employees up to £500 worse off per year.

morrisons workers on strike in yorkshire: ‘we supply food, now we won’t have enough on to survive’

Morrisons workers on strike in Yorkshire: ‘We supply food, now we won’t have enough on to survive’

The initial six-day industrial action will likely see empty shelves and a lack of products available in stores nationwide.

Unite members working as warehouse stock controllers, cooks, canteen staff, and administrators were balloted for strike action to protect their pensions and take-home pay and voted overwhelmingly to take strike action.

Staff are based in warehouses in Cheshire and Wakefield and perform essential roles.

Another change is set to introduce a “pick rate,” which monitors staff members’ speed.

One Warehouse operator, who is a Unite Representative in Wakefield, Joanna Pegg, 41, said: “Some workers have been working for Morrisons for most of their lives and now we get this, a change in our terms and conditions.

morrisons workers on strike in yorkshire: ‘we supply food, now we won’t have enough on to survive’

“We are not just fighting for this year but for our pensions too.”

She added that in a cruel ironic twist, many people who supply the supermarket shelves with essentials in the chain's 500 stores will no longer have enough to “survive.”

“Morale has never been lower”, she added.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is focussed on our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and these unfair changes to workers’ pensions will leave workers worse off every month.

"Unite will not stand for such behaviour from any employer, let alone one like Morrisons who is raking in massive profits during a cost-of-living crisis. Its flagrant profiteering and then cutting our members’ take home pay is a disgrace.”

Workers are being forced to increase their pension contributions while the supermarket giant reduces its contributions by the same amount. This Unite say will result in workers being significantly worse off in their pay packets and see Morrisons pocket the extra money despite already making nearly a billion pounds in profits.

Additional changes that workers are being compelled to adopt include the removal of a long service award, enforced changes to jobs roles and a failure to correctly follow absence policies.

Unite national officer Adrian Jones added: "The strike action will inevitably cause shortages and empty shelves across Morrisons stores but this dispute is entirely of the company’s own making.

“Despite our best efforts over a number of meetings, it seems that Morrisons is not interested in resolving this dispute as they have refused to negotiate over the changes to our members' pensions and long service awards. We have attempted to get management to see sense and find a way forward but to no avail.”

A spokesperson for Morrisons said:

“We have made a number of new proposals to Unite including a 9 per cent pay award, a new Service Award scheme and improvements to the planned future Pension Scheme changes. Disappointingly, Unite has chosen to reject these new proposals without putting them to its members, and instead are continuing with strike action at two out of our seven logistics sites, initially over three days.

“The two affected depots at Gadbrook and Wakefield are open but operating at a reduced capacity. We have put in place detailed contingency plans across the business and are confident that our customers, stores, suppliers and partners will not be significantly affected.

“We remain open to further dialogue with the union.”

OTHER NEWS

19 minutes ago

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer double down as they take fresh swipe at Harry Kane

19 minutes ago

Anthony Joshua shares bizarre video of himself undergoing 'hot cupping' treatment as he refuses to slack off ahead of expected Daniel Dubois showdown later this year

19 minutes ago

How to stop a tummy bug ruining your holiday: What to eat in the week before you leave, the supplements to take and why fungi might help by microbiome scientist DR EMILY LEEMING

19 minutes ago

Taylor Swift's London gigs became the royal event of the summer with Prince William, Charlotte and George joining Zara and Mike Tindall as well as members of the  Greek and Spanish monarchies

19 minutes ago

Incredible bronze bust depicting sexually-depraved Roman Emperor Caligula that was excavated near Mount Vesuvius is found after nearly 200 years

23 minutes ago

Why The Cast Of Alien: Romulus Looks So Familiar

23 minutes ago

Video: ANOTHER tourist dies in blistering heatwave in Greece - the sixth since the death of Dr Michael Mosley - while two more are still missing as country is blasted with 44C temperatures and wildfires

23 minutes ago

Join Life Kit on a journey to improve your sleep

23 minutes ago

ANALYSIS: What’s happening with Jets prospect Rutger McGroarty?

28 minutes ago

Wrestling legend 2 Cold Scorpio 'arrested over violent stabbing' but ex-WWE star claims self defense

28 minutes ago

Countdown to celebrations ahead of Tour Down Under

28 minutes ago

Fans praise Slovakia's 'genius' fake throw-in which led to Ivan Schranz's goal in Euro 2024 clash against Ukraine with Lukas Haraslin and David Hancko confusing their opponents

28 minutes ago

‘Score one for NSW’: King Charles attending The Everest but not Melbourne Cup

29 minutes ago

Fears over new North Korean rubbish balloon launches toward South

29 minutes ago

Forget STEM. Head of Paris’s top tech university says the secret to France’s AI boom is a focus on the humanities

29 minutes ago

Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny storm Vogue World's Paris Fashion Week takeover

29 minutes ago

Kerry Katona 'still struggling' after nose surgery

29 minutes ago

Jane Lynch channels Anne Robinson on The Weakest Link

29 minutes ago

Nicola Peltz-Beckham vows to 'relentlessly investigate' dog's death

29 minutes ago

Ford RS200 and Escort Mk1 to make an official comeback

29 minutes ago

Protesters at PGA tournament today: Climate activists disrupt play on 18th green at Travelers Championship

29 minutes ago

PGA Tour commentator slammed for 'lying' about LIV Golf innovation

29 minutes ago

EFF stands with Kenyan protesters against new Finance Bill

29 minutes ago

Soccer-Spalletti set to shake things up for Italy's clash with Croatia

29 minutes ago

Ted Scott, Scottie Scheffler's caddie, has likely made more money than 80 percent of PGA Tour players in 2024

29 minutes ago

MLB Roundup: Diaz sparks offence as Rays earn win over Skenes, Pirates

29 minutes ago

Why you should go to Legoland Dubai Resort on Tuesday

29 minutes ago

Mona hangs Picassos in women’s toilet in response to court ruling

33 minutes ago

Seine suspense as Paris counts down to Olympics

36 minutes ago

Star Trek's Grossest Food Detail Might Make You Sick

37 minutes ago

Earl Spencer discovers Roman bracelet in grounds of Althorp Estate during excavation - days after he's spotted on date with archeologist

37 minutes ago

My husband died in my arms as we waited too long for an ambulance

37 minutes ago

Financial sextortion most often targets teen boys via Instagram, according to new data

37 minutes ago

Woman admits splashing hot water on her 4 kids on suspicion that one of them stole her cash

37 minutes ago

Xhaka hails revamped Swiss after reaching knockout stages again

37 minutes ago

Ties between Singapore, Italy deepening: President Tharman

37 minutes ago

Hilton Dubai Palm has a 29-hour staycation offer

37 minutes ago

Celine Dion wailed through seizure in 'unbearable' moment filming documentary

37 minutes ago

Peter Schiff is predicting a 'major dollar decline’ but Janet Yellen has said it won't be easy to 'get around' the greenback — here are 3 ways to prepare your portfolio

37 minutes ago

Euro Paper Talk: Ten Hag to reboot Man Utd forward line with stunning triple transfer; Liverpool green light move for Euro 2024 midfielder