Morrisons warehouse workers in Northwich are threating strike action over an “entirely unacceptable” pay offer.
According to Unite the Union, staff are balloting for industrial action due to a real-terms pay cut which will see employees receive a pay rise of between two to three per cent against 4.9 per cent inflation.
The ballot opened on November 16 and is scheduled to close on November 30.
The organisation said the affected distribution centres are set to include Northwich, in Cheshire, and Wakefield.
The industrial action will reportedly cause disruption to food and goods allocation to Morrisons stores across the North West, North Yorkshire and beyond.
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The trade union claims the dispute is due to a “botched job evaluation process” by Californian company Korn Ferry, which allegedly decided that workers at the Big 4 grocer were being overpaid.
It furthermore said that Unite representatives were excluded from the evaluation process.
“Morrisons is a multi-million-pound operation which has financially benefitted from our members working throughout the pandemic,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.
“Workers will simply not accept a pay offer which is a real-terms pay cut.”
Unite regional officer Ian McCluskey added: “The workers at both distribution centres have gone above and beyond the call of duty in the past 18 months to ensure an unbroken supply of food and goods reaching supermarkets.
“If Morrisons want to avoid huge disruption to its stores shortly before Christmas, then they need to return to the negotiating table and make a pay offer acceptable to our members.
“Unite will not accept the divide and rule tactics that Morrisons want to introduce over pay.”
A representative for Morrisons commented: “We are still in formal negotiations and are meeting with Unite again today.”
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