On Tuesday, at least 1,000 drivers from the US-based GXO Logistics in the United Kingdom threatened to stage a five-day protest at the end of this month after a dispute over pay and job cuts, said Unite union. This may affect at least 40% of all deliveries to pubs and venues in the country.
According to reports, the strike will begin from October 31 and go on till November 4 affecting beer supplies to venues and pubs, ahead of the cricket World Cup, by major breweries including Heineken, Stonegate, Admiral Taverns and Shepherd Neame. The workers are also set to begin a continuous overtime ban starting October 24.
Sources suggest that the company delivers to over 4,000 pubs in London and south-east England. Additionally, they also have a network of 22 depots from Inverness to Southampton which is also reportedly the rolling strike action will take place. The workers have rejected the 5% pay offer, said the union, while GXO has also demanded a reduction in sick pay.
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On the other hand, the US-based company has maintained that their pay offer was “significantly above” what the workers claimed was offered and it did not affect sick pay. “We are extremely disappointed that the union has rejected our proposal, which is highly competitive and follows an above-inflation annual pay raise last year,” said a GXO spokesperson.
The logistics company has contradicted the union’s version calling it “inaccurate and misleading”, adding that they would not take the risk of an “unnecessary disruption”, said media reports. The company claims that it proposed an average of 9.2% increase with no impact on sick pay. Aside from pay, the other dispute is related to plans for closing one of the depots in Essex which could lead to job cuts and increase the workload for other drivers.
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Meanwhile, the company spokesperson assured that in the event of strikes they have plans in place for the deliveries and the pubs and venues will not face a shortage, “we have business continuity plans in place to ensure they are adequately stocked and minimise impact on consumers,” said GXO.
(With inputs from agencies)
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