A union is warning that household restaurant chains together with Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut are dealing with the prospect of “severe disruption” to meals provides within the run-up to Christmas.
The GMB union mentioned it was launching a strike vote amongst its near-600 members at Best Food Logistics, which delivers contemporary produce to many large identify quick meals shops and eating corporations, which additionally embrace Wagamama and Zizzi.
It mentioned that 93% of employees had rejected a 6% pay supply because it was considerably beneath the speed of inflation and amounted to an actual phrases pay lower this 12 months and into subsequent.
Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer, mentioned: “These workers bust a gut to deliver fresh, just in time food to some of the biggest names in the business.
“Best Food’s guardian corporations Booker and Tesco are making extremely wholesome income and paying massive dividends, whereas leaving these employees crushed by value of residing.
“Now some of their biggest clients may well be left short this Christmas because they won’t meet GMB’s reasonable request for a pay deal that protects our members through this year and into next with a genuine cost of living increase.”
Sky News has tried to contact the corporate for remark.
The prospect of disruption to provides for chains builds on a 12 months of intensifying union motion throughout the financial system that has seen railway employees, Royal Mail and Post Office staff-to-Felixstowe dock employees stroll out in a struggle for higher pay.
The outgoing chief of the commerce union physique the TUC has warned key well being care employees may very well be subsequent on the picket traces this winter.
Frances O’Grady was on account of inform its annual Congress they have been already fighting rising payments and declare that members of unions have been dealing with the “longest squeeze on real wages since Napoleonic times”.
“If ministers and employers keep hammering pay packets at the same rate, UK workers are on course to suffer two decades of lost living standards”, she mentioned.
“We have got to stop the rot”.
The prospect of a pay struggle between the federal government and unions representing well being employees couldn’t come at a tougher time given winter strain on the NHS and the clear sign from the brand new chancellor Jeremy Hunt that he can be protecting a good maintain of the general public purse strings within the wake of the disastrous mini-budget outlined by his predecessor.
Source: information.sky.com”