Morrisons has insisted that no jobs will be affected after it emerged that the retailer will be transferring almost 400 drivers and mechanics to Wincanton.
The retailer reiterated its stance after it emerged that workers’ union Unite is balloting members at Morrisons’ Gadbrook, Stockton-on-Tees and Wakefield premises on whether to take strike action to fight the move.
The supermarket chain is outsourcing its transport department at three sites and vehicle maintenance departments at five locations to the logistics specialists.
Adrian Jones, Unite’s national officer for road transport and logistics, claimed there was a “deep sense of betrayal and upsurge of anger” among nearly 400 drivers and mechanics that the transfer was being imposed on them by Morrisons’ bosses “without any consultation”.
He warned that refusal to stop the planned transfer of Unite members to Wincanton and its subsidiary Pullman could result in the “very real prospect of strike action later in the summer that could cause havoc for deliveries to Morrisons’ supermarkets and stores across the north”.
A Morrisons spokesman said: “We want to talk to all our colleagues’ representatives and we hope to see Unite at our consultative meetings over the coming days. We want to listen to what they say about this agreement, which transfers our colleagues’ jobs to a leading logistics company with comparable terms and conditions. There will be no job losses.”
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