Wrexham Oscar Mayer fire and rehire workers ballot to extend long running strikes

Long running strike action at Wrexham’s Oscar Mayer ready meal factory is set to stretch into the summer as workers ballot to extend industrial action.

Around 550 Oscar Mayer workers have been striking since last September over the company’s attempt to slash pay by up to £3,000 a year by firing and rehiring them on inferior contracts.

The workers are now being balloted to extend strike action over the dismissal of a handful of colleagues during the industrial action. Oscar Mayer disgracefully sacked the workers after they sent a letter stating they would be working under duress under the revised terms the company wants to impose.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Oscar Mayer’s workers and Unite won’t back down. Corporate greed is driving this disgraceful and unnecessary attack on already low paid workers. It is behaviour that should have no place in our society.”

Pemberton Asset Management owns 85 per cent of Oscar Mayer and is hugely wealthy. The London-based investment firm holds stakes in more than 100 companies around the world and manages £17 billion of clients’ money, much of it channelled through tax havens. Last year, Pemberton paid out £18 million to its 14 partners, with the biggest individual payout worth £2.9 million.

The fire and rehire cuts at Oscar Mayer, meanwhile, are worth just two per cent of the company’s annual revenue of £343 million – not much to Oscar Mayer and Pemberton but a huge loss for the workers in Wrexham.

Unite regional officer Jono Davies said: “This dispute can end tomorrow but that can only happen if Oscar Mayer engages in meaningful discussions with Unite to find a solution that is acceptable to our members.”

Strike action at Oscar Mayer is already set to continue into March. The ballot for further industrial action stretching into the summer closes on 20 February.

ENDS

Unite is calling on local authority pension funds, which have £700 million tied up in investments linked to Pemberton, to halt further investments until fire and rehire is scrapped. The same call is also being made to Pemberton’s international investors.

For media enquires ONLY contact senior Unite communications officer Ryan Fletcher on 07849 090215 or 020 3371 2065.

Email: ryan.fletcher@unitetheunion.org 

Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Sharon Graham.