The meeting, which looks likely to take place in Croydon next Friday, follows the threat of industrial action at Nestlé’s York chocolate factory, where union members are still considering a proposed 1% increase in basic pay.
Nestlé and unions have now agreed to pick up discussions on a national level, and although no date has been set in stone, Alan Black, national officer at the GMB union, told FoodManufacture.co.uk that Friday June 11 was a “likely” date for the next step in negotiations.
“We hope that the company nationally will revisit the question of the degree of flexibility available for local managers to bargain sensibly for the 2010 pay round,” he said.
Nestlé confirmed the meeting will be taking place and said that talks so far have been held on a local level, and that those site-specific discussions would continue.
A company spokesman said that recent local meetings had been “productive” and “useful”.
York dispute
Unions have yet to release the results of a second ballot on the proposed 1% pay rise offer at Nestlé’s York facility, which the company tabled in April.
The offer had followed an earlier proposal to freeze pay, which had prompted unions to start balloting members on industrial action.