It could be crunch time for “picky teas” and party nibbles this Christmas amid fears of further shortages of cheese and chive dips, soups and pasta sauces after hundreds of workers at a food production site voted for three months of further strike action.
Industrial action at the Spalding plant of Bakkavor, a large supplier of savoury dips, hit supplies of taramasalata in supermarkets last month. As the strike enters its third month, there are now gaps on shelves in Waitrose, Tesco and Marks & Spencer as the action affects production of cheese & chive dips and other items.
Almost 800 of the 1,400 workers at the site in Lincolnshire, who are members of the Unite union, have voted for a further three months of action to demand more than the 10p-an-hour premium to the legal minimum wage for over 21s of £11.44 that they currently earn.
The Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Bakkavor is an incredibly wealthy company with a chief executive on a two million-plus salary. It can fully afford to pay its workers a fair pay increase.
“Our members are showing incredible courage and have remained steadfast in their campaign and will keep fighting until Bakkavor comes to its senses and makes a fair offer. In the meantime, Unite will pursue every avenue in the UK or abroad to ensure that the workers secure a decent deal.”
The company said it had moved production of taramasalata to one of its other factories, so that it is back on shelves, and only one product, a low-fat cheese & chive dip, had entirely ceased production. However, it is understood that a lower-than-usual supply of products including dips, soups and pasta sauces made by Bakkavor continues to affect availability in some supermarkets.
Tesco is understood to have lower supplies of products including cheddar cheese & chive dip, reduced-fat sour cream & chive dip, whipped feta with mint from its Finest premium range, carbonara sauce and chicken and vegetable soup.
It is understood that Marks & Spencer is short of just one product from what is popularly known as its picky tea selection – a collection of hastily assembled lunch or dinner food items – and that is reduced-fat sour cream & chive dip.
Waitrose said it had shortages of own-label taramasalata, four cheeses sauce and beetroot & feta salad.
A Waitrose spokesperson said: “We work with a number of suppliers, so still have a wide range of products on offer. We’re really sorry if some products aren’t available at the moment – our partners are always happy to help customers find alternatives.”
Bakkavor said that the majority of its workers in Spalding – about 950 staff – were reporting to work as usual.
It said that it had implemented contingency plans to minimise disruption and had “robust plans to deliver Christmas across our 21 UK sites”.
It said its improved pay offer amounted to a 7.8% increase for the lowest-paid workers and 6.4% across all other grades as well as a one-off bonus of £350 a person.
Donna-Maria Lee, chief people officer at Bakkavor, said: “We were very disappointed the union recommended its members reject the pay deal.”
She said the pay rise had been offered to workers on an individual basis and more than 700 staff had accepted, including some on strike who had now returned to work.
Bakkavor added that pay awards in Spalding had been above inflation over the past three years.
