Clarks has agreed to mediation in a bid to resolve an ongoing strike at its warehouse in Somerset over a controversial 'fire and rehire' policy.
Last month more than 100 Clarks staff at the shoe retailer’s Westway warehouse in Street walked out over the policy saying it would reduce pay and conditions.
The company said its move would help protect the future of the firm, which was founded in 1825, after it posted a record loss during the pandemic of £180m for the last financial year, including a £600m drop in revenue - down 45%.
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The shoe retailer told BusinessLive it had been in contact with conciliation service Acas but declined to provide further comment on the talks.
A spokesperson for the trade union Community, which is representing the striking Clarks workers, said it had also been approached by Acas.
The union said: “We agreed immediately to meet with them along with Clarks as part of our ongoing efforts to resolve the dispute.
“If reports are correct and the company have agreed to meet with us and ACAS we look forward to entering the process.
“We are hopeful that we can come to a resolution that works in everybody’s interests, protects our members' livelihoods and recognises their loyalty to the company.”
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An Acas spokesperson also confirmed it was in touch with both sides involved in the dispute to work towards having talks “as soon as possible."
Clarks has said a majority of Westway employees have now agreed to its proposals, with the company telling BusinessLive on Wednesday (November 17) that this had increased to 77% from 53% last week. Some of those who have signed are thought to be still taking part in the strike.
The business previously said it had made “significant multiple concessions” in talks and had offered to increase pay for all Westway employees by 5.6% to £10.03 per hour, to recognise the Government’s recent announcement on National Minimum Wage increases from April 2022.
The company has previously criticised Community’s contributions to talks, saying it had failed to offer any “meaningful proposals”.
Clarks also said that it had been “disappointed” by the union’s response to concerns it had raised that employees at the distribution centre had reportedly suffered abuse from the picket line when attending work.
Community said it had acted “in accordance with the law” in regard to the dispute.
Prior to that, Clarks had denied claims from Community that it had been illegally employing agency workers to cover the strike.
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Clarks responded that it had maintained the same number of agency workers that were working at the beginning of the strike, fully within the law.
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