Workers at Balcas Timber Ltd (Glennon brothers) to ballot for strike action in pay dispute

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Unite the union NI
Balcas workers on the picket line 2019

Workers reject below inflation pay increase offered by company whose latest accounts reported a dramatic surge in profits.

Unite the union has today notified management at Balcas Timber Ltd, a wood-mill and Combined Heat Power plant employing approximately 280 at Killadeas, Co Fermanagh of its intent to conduct a strike ballot of the workforce. The strike ballot will open on Tuesday 16 April and remain open for three weeks closing on Tuesday 7 May.

The workforce are paid as little £10.68 an hour, which is only now being increased to £11.44 an hour to comply with national minimum wage legislation.

Balcas is a highly successful company and is operating close to full capacity to meet the surge in demand for timber products. The company’s latest accounts (2022) reported turnover had increased by 7.6 per cent while operating costs fell. As a result, profits leapt to £19.4 million an increase of 190 per cent. The company is wholly-owned by the Longford headquartered Glennon Brothers Holdings Ltd, the second biggest timber manufacturer in the UK.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Balcas and Glennon brothers are highly successful and profitable companies operating. They can easily afford to provide a fair pay increase. Their failure to do so is a cynical attempt to further boost profits at the expense of workers’ wellbeing.

“Unite always focusses on the jobs, pay and conditions of its workers and the Balcas workforce can be certain of the total support of Unite.”

The workers at the wood mill submitted a pay claim seeking a cost of living pay increase to maintain pay differentials with the legal minimum, the introduction of a sick pay scheme and a one day increase in holiday entitlement.

Unite regional officer for the workforce Gareth Scott said: “Working in a saw mill is a tough and challenging job and the pay these workers receive just doesn’t reflect that reality.

“Management needs to recognise the mounting severity of this industrial dispute – it can only be resolved if management returns to the table with a pay offer that meets our members’ expectations.”

ENDS…

For further information or to arrange an interview contact Donal O’Cofaigh, Unite Campaigns, Comms & Press (NI) tel. 07810 157926.

Posted in Living Wage, Manufacturing, Northern Ireland news, Press Releases | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Family of Matthew Campbell deserve answers and justice

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Unite the union NI

Court judgement highlights need for health and safety legislation to be strengthened for increased incidence of extreme weather events

Unite the union welcomed this afternoon’s sentencing hearing at Newry Crown Court of Health and safety failings admitted by Newry, Mourne and Down district Council and Lagan construction at the Gullion Forest site, where Matthew Campbell was killed in 2018 during Storm Ali.

Mr Campbell was a member of Unite and the union has been supporting his family to obtain answers and justice on his death.

The union has challenged the failure of the Health and Safety Executive NI to conduct an investigation into the incident.  

Unite regional secretary Susan Fitzgerald has remained in close contact with the family since the death of Mr Campbell, she said:

“Today’s sentence is the closest that the family of Matthew Campbell has been able to come to obtaining any accountability for the loss of their son. Matthew’s death is a horrific loss and could have been avoided, he should never have been sent out to work in a forest in the middle of an extreme weather event.

“Unite will be taking forward our campaign for new legislation to protect workers’ health and safety in extreme weather events. With climate change these are becoming increasingly common and we cannot continue to have institutional failure when it comes to the protection of workers.

Posted in Northern Ireland news, Press Releases | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Pilgrim’s Foodmasters workforce in Enniskillen wins inflation-busting pay increase

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Unite the union NI

Workers agree to accept an increase of £1.02 an hour – worth up to 9.3% for lowest paid

Members of Unite the union working at Pilgrim’s Foodmasters, formerly Kerry foods, in Enniskillen have ended an industrial dispute with their employer after accepting a pay improvement worth £1.02 an hour to all grades. The increase will be paid to all grades commencing from the beginning of April, the anniversary date.

The increase will be worth 9.3 percent to production workers at the meat and meat-free processor who currently are paid £11.00 an hour; for team leaders the increase is worth 7.6 percent and 5.6 percent for engineers. All these are significantly above the current twelve-month (RPI) inflation rate. The initial offer from the employer was for only an extra 85 pence an hour an offer which was rejected leading to preparations for a strike ballot before an improved offer was obtained. 

Pilgrim Food Masters UK ltd is a highly profitable company. In its latest accounts which are to the end of December 2022, management reported a huge sales increase from £123.7 million to £334.1 million on the year with operating profit rising from £19.8 million to £25.9 million. These reported profits reflect both the profitability of the company and the scale of its recent acquisitions.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the pay improvement for workers at Pilgrim’s Food Masters, “Pilgrims is a highly profitable and rapidly expanding company whose success is built from the efforts of its employees. Workers have succeeded in obtaining an above-inflation pay improvement and a significant improvement on what was initially offered through their readiness to take strike action. This outcome demonstrates once again the importance of strike-ready workplaces to win real improvements for workers.”

Continue reading →
Posted in Campaign for Decent Pay, Living Wage, Manufacturing, Northern Ireland news, Press Releases | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Unite members working in Health and Social Care vote overwhelmingly to accept pay parity offer and end industrial dispute

Posted on March 22, 2024 by Unite the union NI

Union celebrates historic win for workers and pledges to continue efforts to secure legal protections for safe staffing

Members of Unite the union working for the health and social care service in Northern Ireland have voted decisively, with an 81 percent majority, to accept a pay improvement offer made by their employer. The positive ballot outcome was repeated in all the other health side trade unions meaning that the industrial pay dispute in health and social care for the 2023-24 year has been formally ended.

The pay deal will mean that health and social care workers receive the same pay increase offered to NHS workers in England and Wales and restores pay parity. This amounts to 5 percent across all grades and a lump sum of £1,505. The offer was won through a campaign of mounting strike actions by health workers leading up to the one-day public sector strike in Northern Ireland on January 18th which brought the region to a standstill.

Unite the union general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the outcome, “Health and Social Care workers set themselves the goal of restoring pay parity with workers elsewhere in the NHS. This ballot symbolises that they have secured a comprehensive win on pay that delivers that objective. This successful outcome was secured through workers getting organising and launching a powerful wave of strike action. I am very proud of the role members of Unite have played in securing this historic win.”

Regional officer for health in Northern Ireland is Brenda Stevenson, she said, “This is a tremendous win for health workers in Northern Ireland. Shockingly this is now the second time in five years that healthcare workers in Northern Ireland have had to stand on picket lines in winter to defend NHS pay parity and indeed to force the politicians to return to government to deliver it. We cannot afford to see a repeat. Unite will now continue to work alongside the other health unions to secure legislation guaranteeing NHS pay parity and mandating safe staffing levels.”

ENDS…

Posted in Campaign for Decent Pay, Northern Ireland news, Press Releases, Public Services | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Northern Ireland public transport trade unions agree to re-enter discussions with Translink management

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Unite the union NI

Joint Trade Union press release

The three public transport trade unions, UNITE, GMB and SIPTU, have agreed to re-enter discussions with Translink’s management with the aim of achieving a resolution to the ongoing pay dispute over the 2023-24 pay offer.

Members of all three trade unions voted last week voted decisively to reject the previous pay offer, which was considered to be inadequate.

The unions agreed this approach following discussions with reps and officials.

The three trade unions have agreed to not make any further public comments on the dispute ahead of the conclusion of talks.

Posted in Campaign for Decent Pay, Northern Ireland news, Press Releases, Public Services | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment