More than 50 workers employed at the Jiffy Packaging plant in Winsford, Cheshire have been on strike after receiving a pay offer from their employer that they deemed too low.
The employees, who are members of trade union Unite, first went on strike for two weeks in July following a breakdown in negotiations with Jiffy management. They began further action on 5 August and will continue until 17 August, and have also not worked any overtime since 1 July.
The workers decided to take strike action following their employer offering them a 1.5% pay increase. They argued that it was not high enough considering the cost-of-living crisis and inflation standing at 4.3%, and have asked for an 8% increase backdated to 1 April.
They also want to see an increase to 12 weeks of sick pay from the eight they currently receive, alongside the reinstatement of breaks during the working day and changes to bank holiday working practices.
Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “This is a pathetic pay offer from a packaging company that is making huge profits on the backs of its workforce yet refusing to pay them a decent wage. Jiffy is a household name and yet it is willing to trash its reputation by treating our members and the communities in Cheshire with such disrespect. Unite will be backing our members every step of the way in this dispute.”
Gary Fairclough, regional officer at Unite, added: “Our members are rightly furious at this insult of a pay offer coupled with terrible sick pay, the removal of break times and a host of other condition that paints Jiffy as an employer that simply doesn’t value its staff or the community in which it’s based. It will see the anger of our members firsthand on the picket line outside its factory this summer.”
Jiffy was contacted for comment prior to publication.
