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Morrisons in final bid to avert strike
Page 6
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The row rumbles on at Morrisons as it attempts to avert a massive strike involving the T&G and GMB. Jennifer Ball and Guy Sheppard report.
SUPERMARKET GIANT Morrisons is hoping a last ditch deal with transport unions will halt crippling strike action that is due to start tomorrow (Friday).
The supermarket has already agreed to introduce national wage bargaining — one of the T&G and GMB unions' principal demands.
Distribution workers who supply more than half of Morrisons' 350 supermarkets are due to start nine days of strikes from 23 September. But as CM went to press on Tuesday Morrisons had agreed to talks with both unions. They represent drivers and warehouse staff at five sites; the company had refused to negotiate with them about reorganisation of its RDCs.
A T&G spokesman says: "Morrisons has conceded to national bargaining and to meeting us, which is all positive, but there is still a lot to talk about. "We will wait and see what the purpose of the meeting is and will listen to them, but until then the strike will go ahead next weekend."
Morrisons says 12 distribution sites will be unaffected by the action and that at the three sites where T&G members voted for action nearly 75% of the workforce either voted against a strike.or did not vote because they are not in the union. "This would seem to indicate that the majority of people at these sites do not wish to stop work to support these two unions' desire for joint national bargaining," it claims.
Morrisons has reportedly put in place contingency plans involving Christian Salvesen and Exel which run depots unaffected by the potential strike.
If it goes ahead the strike will last for three days, to be followed by an overtime ban until 29 September and a further six days of strikes.This will he followed by an indefinite overtime ban that could hit 60 of the company's stores.