Engineers in strikes over redundancies
Reporter: BEATRIZ AYALA
Date published: 24 July 2009
ENGINEERS at Park Cakes Bakeries were nervously awaiting their fate today with the threat of redundancies.
A total of 22 engineers held a 24-hour strike over pay and job cuts starting at 6am yesterday.
Unite members employed in the engineering department have been in months of negotiations over potential redundancies and pay.
The company plans to make four engineers redundant leaving numbers down to 18, a level the union believe is close to being unsustainable.
Two years ago there were 51 engineers.
A further 24-hour walkout has been planned to start at 6am on Monday.
Unite said industrial action could be avoided if the company honoured the previous redundancy agreement and offered workers the same pay rise as other Park Cake employees.
Peter Wheeler, Unite regional officer said: “Our members are not looking for a strike but there are important issues at stake for the workforce.
“The company’s failure to honour the previous agreement is going to cost anyone being made redundant thousands of pounds.”
Mr Wheeler claimed an enhanced redundancy package, offered when Northern Foods owned the bakery and protected by legislation, is not being honoured by current owners Vision Capital Funds.
He claims it will only pay the statutory minimum and that the company had not explored the idea of voluntary redundancies first.
He said: “It is bad enough losing your job but for the company to do it on the cheap is totally unacceptable.
“One guy under the old agreement would have been given approximately £6,000 redundancy but the company is only offering him £900.
“The best way forward to resolve this dispute is for the company to return to the table and enter meaningful negotiations.
“We are asking all trade unionists to support our efforts and respect our picket lines.”
A spokesman from Park Cake Bakeries said: “Following a review of its trading position Park Cake Bakeries is proposing to make four redundancies from the engineering department.
“The company has been fully engaged in consultation with the Unite union regarding the redundancies but the union having balloted its members has chosen to proceed to strike action at the site.”
