Usdaw has suspended two planned 24-hour stoppages at Scotbeef sites in East Kilbride and Queenslie in Glasgow. The first stoppage was due to begin at 10pm last night (December 19).
The union agreed to talks with the company at the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).
Stewart Forrest, Usdaw divisional officer, said: “We welcome the company agreeing to conciliation talks through ACAS and we hope this will lead to a resolution of the dispute.
‘Suspended industrial action’
“We expect talks to resume in the New Year. In the meantime, we have suspended industrial action at Scotbeef.”
Usdaw’s members voted 80% in favour of industrial action at the two Scotbeef sites, following a breakdown in pay talks.
Workers rejected Scotbeef’s latest pay offer – a 1.7% pay-rise linked to changes in break entitlements, claimed Usdaw.
Speaking earlier this month, Forrest said: “Usdaw has engaged positively with Scotbeef during the 2017 pay review, but the company has so far failed to make an offer acceptable to our members. This breakdown in negotiations has forced Usdaw members to take industrial action.”
‘Breakdown in negotiations’
Scotbeef is one of the UK’s largest privately-owned fresh meat companies, producing meat products for the UK and export retail market. Its main customers are Aldi, Lidl, the Macdonald Hotel Group and Marks & Spencer.
FoodManufacture.co.uk has contacted Scotbeef for a comment.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Kingsmill bakery drivers in West Bromwich called off their threatened strike action, after overwhelmingly accepting a revised pay offer, according to Unite the union.