Bakkavor has offered its Spalding workers a £350 bonus in an attempt to end ongoing strike action, which has resulted in a shortage of fresh soup in the supermarkets.
The own-label supplier claimed Unite the union’s accusation that employees had rejected a “derisory” pay rise was false.
In September, Bakkavor put forward an improved offer of 7.8% to its lowest paid colleagues and 6.4% across all other grades – which was “well above the national living wage and inflation”, it said.
“Over the past three years, CPI in the UK has grown by 21%, at our Spalding site over the same three-year period the pay rate for our lowest-paid colleagues has risen by 22.8% and all other grades by 21.2%, both above inflation for the period. This excludes improvements we have made to broader benefits over the same period.”
Bakkavor’s proposed pay rises have been accepted across its other 20 UK sites.
“In summary, the Union’s claims of ‘years of real terms pay cuts’, whilst emotive, are completely without basis,” said Bakkavor.
Furthermore, Unite had “wrongly claimed” that more than 700 of its members in Spalding were taking industrial action.
“Whilst the union may have 700 members of the 1,400-strong workforce, only c450 are not attending work,” said Bakkavor.
Bakkavor chief people officer Donna-Maria Lee said it was “becoming increasingly difficult to resolve this dispute with Unite and get people back to work”.
“We have engaged the union in discussions since the start, and our CEO met with them recently out of a genuine desire to resolve the issue,” she said.
“Whilst a material discretionary bonus (of £350 per person) and an above inflation pay rise have been tabled for Spalding colleagues, the union has now advised us that they have put it to ballot, with a recommendation to reject our offer,” Lee added.
Bakkavor CEO Mike Edwards added: “Our pay deals need to be fair to colleagues across all our 21 sites.
“We believe the offer proposed is entirely fair based on the context in which we are operating.”
A spokesperson for Unite said: ”“Bakkavor are running scared and fearmongering with their latest attempt to explain their untenable position.
“While their CEO makes millions, and they are part-owned by an Icelandic convicted financial criminal, their workers in Lincolnshire are having to rely on foodbanks to make ends meet.
“Strike action has crippled their production and high street customers are now seeing empty shelves. Bakkavor need to stop spreading lies and get back around the negotiating table with a meaningful offer that is acceptable to our members.”
It comes as supermarket chillers have been left empty of fresh soup this week as a result of the ongoing strike action. Bakkavor has insisted the disruption is “short-term” and isolated to soups.
Christmas would be unaffected by the strike, it has said, as Bakkavor’s Christmas ranges are made at its other UK sites.
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