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Union predicts coffee shortages after JDE staff vote for industrial action
16/04/2021
Overtime ban from May 1 but JDE do not believe supplies will be affected
An overtime ban by nearly 300 staff at the Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) site in Banbury could result in coffee shortages in the supermarkets – according to the Unite Union. The continuous overtime ban will start on Saturday 1 May over the so called ‘fire and rehire’ plans.
The announcement follows a ballot which saw 87 per cent vote to strike over the decision by the Dutch-owned company to issue notices of dismissal and engagement to 291 employees. The union says the action will escalate to full-scale strike action in June, unless the management enters into constructive negotiations with them.
Unite national officer for the food industry Joe Clarke said: “Our members have delivered an overwhelming mandate for strike action over the company’s deplorable plans to ‘fire and rehire’ nearly 300 of its dedicated employees.
“Our members will start a continuous overtime ban from Saturday 1 May – appropriately International Workers’ Day – which we will ramp up to full-scale strike action in June.
“The overtime ban will lead to disruption to the smooth supply of the company’s top coffee products, such as Tassimo, Kenco and L’OR Coffee, to the nation’s supermarket shelves. Already sections of the Banbury plant rely on overtime to keep production running to schedule.”
However JDE do not believe the overtime ban will affect supplies. A spokesperson told Banbury FM: “The union has notified us that there will be a continuous overtime ban from 1 May. We are prepared for industrial action and are confident there will be no impact on the supply of our products.”
Unite’s Joe Clarke indicated the union did not believe it was too late to avoid industrial action. He said: “… even at this eleventh hour, we call on the company’s top executives to enter into constructive talks with Unite to resolve the outstanding issues.”
JDE believe their proposed changes are necessary to secure the future of the business and say they have requested the ACAS arbitration service help in resolving the issues. A JDE UK spokesperson said: “We appreciate some associates may find the changes difficult and we respect their right to make their voices heard on the proposals. We are obviously disappointed that they have voted in favour of industrial action.
“Over the last few months, we have revised our proposals and the current proposals mean the majority of associates will gain financially and there is compensation for those who are financially impacted.
“We are now in individual consultation with our associates so they can assess what our current proposals will mean for them so they can decide the best way forward individually.
“We do not propose these changes lightly but there is an overwhelming need to reset Banbury manufacturing. We continue to ask the union to constructively participate in the process and have asked the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to support us in reaching an agreement that benefits both our associates and the business.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam