Workers based at Tesco’s depot in Didcot have been warned to be
braced for a dirty depot and canteen closures as workers employed
by Atalian Servest have announced strike action over pay.
The dispute involves cleaning and catering staff employed on an
outsourced contract and is a result of Atalian Servest refusing
to even negotiate over a pay increase.
The cleaners are on pay rates of as little as £11 an hour, which
includes weekend and bank holiday work at no additional rate,
they operate in the main Tesco warehouse which is only heated to
one degree. Meanwhile the catering staff are paid the minimum
wage of £10.42 an hour.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham
said: “Atlalian
Servest can fully afford to give our members a decent
pay rise, its failure to do so is a cynical attempt to further
boost its profits at the expense of its workers.
“Unite is entirely focussed on the jobs, pay and
conditions of its members and the workers at Atalian Servest in
Didcot will be receiving Unite’s complete support.”
The workers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union,
have announced two initial 24 hour strikes beginning
on Friday 1
September and Thursday
7 September, followed by a three day strike beginning
on Friday 15
September and a further three day strike beginning
on Thursday 21 September.
Atalian Servest is very financially healthy; its latest
accounts for 2021 reveal that it made gross profits of £84
million.
Unite regional co-ordinating officer Scott Kemp
said: “Strike action
will inevitably result in a dirty depot and the closure of the
canteen, but this dispute is entirely due to
the pig-headed manner in which Atalian Servest has
refused to even engage with Unite over a pay increase for our
members.”
