Workforce is seeking a cost of living pay increase and an end to the current unequal payment of breaks

Approximately 130 members of Unite employed by Pilgrims Europe are set to escalate their strike action at the company’s Enniskillen site. The union served notice on the employer of a further two-week strike commencing 6.30am on Monday 17th August after a vote by workers on the picket line last Friday [7th August].

The industrial dispute centres around the failure of the employer to offer an inflation proof pay increase that addresses unequal pay for breaks. Morning shift workers are paid for only 15 minutes breaks while evening and night shift are paid for 30 minutes.

Pilgrims Europe which operates the site declared after tax profits of £128.4 million for the 2024 financial year, a 21.1% increase on the previous year. Meanwhile its workers in Enniskillen are paid little more than the bare legal minimum.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Pilgrims is a very successful company with huge after-tax profits. It can well afford to pay its workers properly but our members in Enniskillen are paid less than colleagues on sites elsewhere in the UK and little above the bare legal minimum. The workers have the full and continuing support of Unite for as long as it takes to win pay justice and respect.”

Greg O’Kane, Unite regional officer said, “Our members are determined to secure an improved pay deal offering real protection from the cost-of-living crisis and ending the current inequality around paid breaks. They are set to escalate their strike to two weeks – management needs to return to the table with an offer meeting our members’ pay expectations to resolve this dispute.”