Workers at the Hovis bread factory in Wigan have today started the first of three scheduled week-long strikes.
Hovis owner Premier Foods said it planned to continue production at the site with employees not involved in the industrial action, and would make use of its network of bakeries to avoid disruption to supply.
Members of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) employed at the Wigan plant voted last week to take action over the use of temporary agency staff on zero-hour contracts.
Premier said it had moved away from the use of zero-hour contracts for its own staff, but said agencies set the terms and conditions its staff were employed under.
“The use of temporary agency labour is commonplace throughout the food industry and other manufacturing sectors and it is important to be able to cover peaks in demand”
Premier Foods
“The use of temporary agency labour is commonplace throughout the food industry and other manufacturing sectors and it is important to be able to cover peaks in demand, for instance in the run-up to Christmas,” said a Premier spokesman. “The need for the use of agency labour is understood and accepted by the unions at all our other sites and is only a relatively small proportion of our overall workforce.”
The company last week admitted it still directly employed six workers under zero-hour arrangements at Wigan, but today said it had written to them to confirm their roles would be transferred to full-time contracts.
“We are disappointed that we have not been able to resolve the dispute and will continue to search for a satisfactory outcome,” added Premier.
The strike started today at 6am and is set to run until 6am on 4 September. Other strikes are planned to run from 6am on 11 September to 6am on 18 September; and from 6am on 25 September to 6am on 2 October.
Under a typical zero-hour contract, workers have no guarantee of shifts or work patterns.
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