Almost 1,000 Morrisons warehouse staff have taken strike action in a dispute over their pension contributions.
The strike will take place until 5am on Saturday 26 May for staff at two site locations in Gadbrook and Wakefield, located in Cheshire and West Yorkshire respectively.
Ahead of the bank holiday weekend, Adrian Jones, Unite national officer, believes “the strike action will inevitably cause shortages and empty shelves across Morrisons stores”.
However, a Morrisons spokesperson told YourMoney.com there would be minimal difference in deliveries or stock in the impacted areas or indeed the rest of the UK.
‘Suppliers and partners will not be significantly affected’
The retailer said: “The two affected depots at Gadbrook and Wakefield are open but operating at a reduced capacity. We have put in place detailed contingency plans across the business and are confident that our customers, stores, suppliers and partners will not be significantly affected.”
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A mix of cooks, administrators and stock controllers have taken the decision to go on strike over changes to their pension contributions, which Unite claims will leave employees “£500 worse off”.
A new policy from the supermarket saw its own contributions to its employees’ pension pots go down from 5% to 4%. Up until March this year, Morrisons would take the lion’s share of the 8% contribution, with staff paying just 3%.
Union slams changes to pension deal
On the dispute between Morrisons and its staff, Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Unite is focused on our members’ jobs, pay and conditions, and these unmerited changes to workers’ pensions will leave our members worse off every month.
“Unite will not stand for such behaviour from any employer, let alone one like Morrisons who is raking in massive profits in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Its flagrant profiteering and then cutting our members’ take-home pay is a disgrace.”
A resolution has not yet been reached, and Morrisons insisted “we remain open to further dialogue with the union”.
A Morrisons spokesperson added: “We have made a number of new proposals to Unite, including a 9% pay award, a new Service Award scheme and improvements to the planned future Pension Scheme changes.
“Disappointingly, Unite has chosen to reject these new proposals without putting them to its members, and instead are continuing with strike action at two out of our seven logistics sites, initially over three days.”
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