Beanz production toast as workers announce further strikes at
hypocrite Heinz
20 December 2010
Two further days of strike action will hit production of beans
and soup at Heinz flagship Kitt Green plant in Wigan before the end
of the year, Unite the union has announced today (Monday). A
one-day stoppage last week saw two million cans lost from
production at the site.
Around 1,200 workers will again walk out from 06:00 hours on
Tuesday 21 December until 06:00 hours on Wednesday 22
December with a further walkout expected before the year is out as
the workers fight for fair pay. Heinz, which saw its profits margin
expand to 37 per cent this year, is refusing to budge on its offer
of 3.3 per cent this year and 3 per cent in 2011, well below the
cost of living which is running at 4.7 per cent.
Unite has reiterated to management that it stands ready to talk
to the company at any time about solving the dispute but warns that
fury is deepening among the workers over the company's attempts to
paint them as greedy in the current austere climate.
According to Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for food and
drink, the food giant is guilty of hypocrisy: "The company is
shamefully trying to smear this workforce as grasping for more cash
even though year on year they have worked extremely hard to deliver
whacking great profits for Heinz.
"With Heinz's profit margins extremely healthy at 37 per cent,
the workers rightly feel that the company is vastly wealthy and can
easily afford to help them meet the spiralling costs of
living. Heinz's refusal to do so is made worse when they
continue to shower rewards on managers and the shareholders.
The hypocrisy of 15 per cent bonuses for well-paid managers but
wage freezes for ordinary workers is staggering. Heinz
workers are not being greedy - they just want fairness."
Unite is also angry that Heinz managers are falsely claiming
that the workers will be receiving their fair share of the
company's profits and challenges some of the company's recent
statements as "deliberately misleading".
Jennie Formby continued: "Heinz has tried to pressurise their
workers by getting Jaap Wilbers, a vice president at the plant, to
write to the workers at their homes. This attempt to
intimidate them out of taking strike action has backfired because
the workers are not buying the deal he is selling, as could be seen
by the picket lines earlier this week.
"90 percent of workers voted to strike after rejecting this
deal. Mr Wilbers and the Heinz management team would be better
advised to pay heed to this unified call, to stop peddling
half-truths and sit down with us to work out a just settlement to
this dispute."
Setting the record straight, Unite says that:
- While the company asserts management bonuses have been cut by
20 per cent, some are still boasting about receiving a whopping 15
per cent bonus – so even though down from what must have been an
unbelievable 35 percent, this is still equivalent to a staggering
7.8 weeks' pay extra.
- The workers’ average bonus will now be less than 4 per cent, a
fall of 2 per cent from last year and considerably lower than the
average bonus over recent years.
- The 3.3 per cent offer for this year is considerably below RPI
at the anniversary of the deal, which was 4.8 per cent. RPI has
fluctuated since then, going above 5 per cent at one point and now
stands at 4.7 per cent.
- Capping next year’s deal at 3 per cent will again see a
reduction in real terms as inflation forecasts for 2011 is forecast
to reach 4.1 per cent if not higher
- The supposed `improvement' to healthcare is compulsory and
comes at a cost to the workers of over £1.00 more a week - £52 per
year. This is a far worse deal than they could get it as a private
individual over the internet.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Pauline Doyle on 0797
832 861 or Jennie Formby on 07702 206 436
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