Business turned a £3.7 million profit in 2020 with director earning 40 times workers’ basic pay

Workers at the Craigavon-based flooring manufacturer Interface Europe are set to commence continuous (all-out) strike action in a dispute over pay.

The strike follows a ballot of Unite’s more than one hundred members which delivered a majority of 88 percent for strike action on a 93 percent turnout.

Continuous strike action due to commence at 22:30 hours on Sunday 26 June with pickets on site from 06:45 hours on Monday 27 June.

With Unite’s membership representing almost all the full-time contracted production workers onsite, the strike is set to have a substantial impact on the company’s operations.

The industrial dispute arises after management rejected the workers’ pay claim for 11 percent (the current rate of retail price inflation) and instead offered a pay increase of 5.25 percent with an additional two percent to shift premiums for hourly employees working shifts. This offer was overwhelmingly rejected by workers as a substantial real-terms pay cut. In response, management have unilaterally imposed their pay offer on agency workers – ignoring entirely the wider collective bargaining process.

General secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham said:  “Interface is yet another business proposing a pay cut for the workers while handing out lots of cash to the bosses.  One of the directors has been awarded a pay-out that is forty times the basic rate earned by workers.  It is obscene and Unite’s members are right to vote overwhelmingly to challenge this.

“The Interface Europe workforce can count on the continuing support of Unite in their dispute. Standing together and standing strong they will defend themselves and their families during this cost of living crisis.”

Interface Europe’s turnover fell to £49.7 million in 2020 due to the pandemic but the company remained highly profitable generating a pre-tax profit of £3.7 million. The highest paid director received a total compensation package of £816k in 2020, forty times more than the £20,000 paid on average as a basic wage to workers.

Neil Moore, regional officer for Unite, challenged the company on its approach to workers:  “This is a company that can well-afford to pay these workers what they are seeking, a fair pay increase.

“This dispute is not just about a pay increase it’s about being treated with respect. These workers are determined to win both through this all-out strike action.”