Eddie Stobart drivers on the Walkers contract in Warrington voted unanimously in favour of striking across a series of dates in May and June.
The dispute is a result of the Unite members being transferred from Walkers Snack Foods to Eddie Stobart last year under the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) regulations.
Unite claimed that since the transfer, Eddie Stobart’s management had refused to honour the existing industrial agreement that protects workers’ pay and conditions.
Due to the management’s refusal to engage with Unite, workers had no option but to ballot for strike action to protect their rights, the union said.
100% ‘yes’ vote
On a turnout of 95.2%, workers recorded a 100% ‘yes’ vote for strike action, it added.
Unite also claimed that Eddie Stobart had refused to engage with Unite following the ballot result.
As a result, it announced two periods of strikes, the first will begin on Friday 31 May until Tuesday 4 June and the second is from Friday 7 June until Tuesday 11 June.There will also be an overtime ban in place on Thursday 30 May, Wednesday 5 June, Thursday 6 June and Wednesday 12 June.
Unite regional officer Steve Gerrard, said: “The north-west of England is facing a crisp famine directly as a result of the high handed actions of Eddie Stobart’s management.
‘Legal industrial agreements’
“Eddie Stobart is refusing to honour the long-standing legal industrial agreements that protect our members’ pay and conditions. Workers aren’t going to stand idly by and allow their hard won rights to be demolished.
“Unite has made numerous attempts to engage with Eddie Stobart to resolve this dispute and has been continually rebuffed.
“This strike is entirely of Stobart’s own making and they can resolve the dispute by agreeing to meaningful negotiations with Unite.”
In response to Unite’s suggestion that Walkers’ supplies would be affected, a spokeswoman for Walkers’ owner PepsiCo said: “We are not facing a supply issue, our customers will continue to receive their orders as planned.”
Eddie Stobart was approached for a comment.
