Meadow Foods employees set for four-day strike over 2% pay offer

Meadow Foods

Employees at dairy-based ingredient supplier Meadow Foods’ factory in Holme-on-Spalding-Moor are set to strike for four days over a 2% pay offer for the year starting July 2018.

Staff at the East Yorkshire chocolate crumb manufacturer are due to walk at 6pm on 12 January until 6pm on 15 January, affecting night and day shifts.

The trade union Unite, which represents more than half of the 71 employees, called the 2% offer “shoddy” and stated that workers were seeking a pay increase in line with the retail price index of inflation, currently at 3.2%.

Dave Monaghan, Unite regional officer, said: “This modest demand is in sharp and glaring contrast with the excessive 82% increase that the company directors pocketed, as highlighted in the latest accounts. It’s no wonder that our members are furious at the huge them-and-us disparity between the pay of the bosses compared with those that actually generate the profits.

“This site produces ingredients for other manufacturers and, if the strike goes ahead, we predict it will have a negative impact on the factory’s ability to keep up with customer demand.”

Unite members voted 73% in favour of strike action.

Meadow Foods were unavailable for comment at the time of publication.