Nearly 150 workers for Alpla UK, making plastic bottles for Coca Cola and Britvic, are threatening strike action after a pay dispute.
Unite members at the Golborne factory in Wigan are considering litigation after the firm offered a 2% pay offer while other staff at the site have reportedly been awarded a 3% rise.
The workers, according to Business Live, also want Alpla UK to fulfil a pledge that the company made last year to increase employer pension contributions.
Unite has reminded that any strike action made by its members employed by Alpla UK could impact supplies of bottles and containers for drinks products.
“Alpla UK has a very healthy turnover of nearly £200m and operating profits of more than £21m. The company can clearly afford to offer our members more than an insulting 2%, particularly after they kept Alpla going through the pandemic when other firms were struggling, said Unite regional officer Richard O’Brien.
“After Alpla’s award of 3% to other staff and a failure to honour its 2020 pension promises, our members feel they are being treated as second class employees and are extremely angry. The strength of feeling is such that Unite has no choice but to ballot our members for strike action, which could impact the availability of major food, drink and other consumer brands across the country,” he warned.
“Given the difficulties already facing the supply chain because of driver shortages, this will be the last thing Alpla’s customers want. We urge Alpla to return to the negotiating table with an offer our members can accept before this dispute escalates further,” O’Brien added.
The ballot closes on 22 September.
