Workers at the Hull plant of East Yorkshire chemical giant Croda are balloting for strike action as a long-running dispute over holiday pay escalates.
The £1.3 billion turnover global operator could see operations at the Oak Road site “severely hampered” should around 90 shift workers walk out.
Accounting for around 10 per cent of the workforce, those affected are described by union Unite as being “at the end of their tether over years of missing holiday pay,” as the fortnight long voting window opened.
The dispute centres around the company’s claimed failure to incorporate holiday entitlement into shift rotas.
Representatives state it is the only site where holiday pay is excluded from annual working hour calculations, adding that Croda has acknowledged the omission, offering to settle with staff in February.
However, it was described as “not reflecting adequate compensation for the amount of holiday pay lost,” with some having clocked up 21 years’ service.
Unite regional officer Mick Simpson: “Croda’s shift workers are at the end of their tether over years of missing holiday pay they are legally entitled to, with some long serving staff owed thousands.
“The strike ballot shouldn’t come as a bolt from the blue for the company. Croda has previously acknowledged the holiday pay issue, but other than an unsatisfactory offer which would have left staff out of pocket, nothing has been done to put it right. Making the situation particularly galling is the fact that holiday pay for shift workers at all of Croda’s other sites is calculated differently.
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“Our members would much rather settle this dispute amicably. Unite urges Croda to put forward a realistic compensation package and incorporate annual leave into shift rotas going forward. Not to do so risks strike action that will severely hamper Croda’s ability to operate as well as force Unite to seek redress for our members through the legal system.”
It comes as the company gears up to support the production of Pfizer’s vaccine, producing the ingredient that carries the active element into the body.
Any strike won’t affect production, which is being carried out in the 海角视频 and US, but not at the facility off Clough Road, which specialises in plastic technologies.
A spokesperson for Croda said: “The management team at its Hull manufacturing site is working with representatives of Unite the Union, who represent its shift workers, to resolve a dispute regarding the interpretation of holiday hours in the local collective working agreement. Sadly, so far discussions have not succeeded in settling the issue.
“Croda ensures all employees, including those in Hull, are paid fairly including for holiday pay. Croda has never accepted Unite’s position that holiday pay for employees in Hull is not adequately compensated and has previously shared detailed legal advice supporting their position. Despite this, and following extensive negotiations including mediation support from Acas, Unite has informed Croda that it is balloting its members on the potential to take industrial action.
“The management team in Hull remains committed to engaging in positive discussions with Unite to try to find a solution as quickly as possible.”