Union disputes draw unwanted public attention to workplace
dispute -- highlight the unwanted public such conflicts can draw to
UK food processers.
The cases emphasize the need for companies to ensure they maintain good relations with their workers.
One case involves Katsouris Fresh Foods, which the GMB union publicly targeted earlier this month for allegedly having what it said was the "worst" safety record in the industry.
The union is currently trying to organise the 2,500 employees at Katsouris' three Park Royal factories.FoodProductionDaily.com contacted Katsouris for comment about the allegations. However a spokesperson was unavailable at the time and did not return the call.
Katsouris was a family-run business until it was acquired by Bakkavör in 2001. The company became part of the Geest group following Bakkavör's acquisition of Geest in May 2005.Katsouris has three manufacturing plants in north west London.
Two recent accidents at the company's factories led to a meeting of workers on 9 September to protest Katsouris' allegedly poor safety practices.
The GMB called the meeting following two industrial accidents since July at Katsouris. Two workers lost their fingers in separate incidents.
GMB also wrote to the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and demanded action against the company. The HSE oversees worker safety in the UK.The HSE served Katsouris with seven improvement notices in 2004 according torecords kept on the regulator's internet site.
The notices involved breechesinvolved manufacturing practices. The company complied with all the noticesaccording to the records. HSE enforces health and safety legislation at foodmanufacturing sites, among other industry sectors.
Hiten Vaidya, a GMB representative responsible for health and safety issues, claimed the accidents were the result of poor record keeping, a lack of training, and poor machine maintenance.
"Both these accidents were avoidable," she stated. "The company has to clean up its health and safety record which is just unacceptable."
The union alleges that one incident involved a GMB member who lost the top of the middle finger of her right hand while using a machine that she had already reported as faulty.
GMB alleges that her manager at Katsouris refused to call an ambulance, instead offering her tissues to staunch the flow of blood.
She was finally taken to hospital by car and left by herself outside emergency bleeding heavily and holding a plastic bag containing the finger part, the GMB alleges.
"The delay meant that her finger could not be re-attached," the GMB claimed.
In another accident at Katsouris shortly afterward, a worker lost the tops of two of his fingers when a large rubbish bin fell on his left hand.
GMB has lodged personal injury claims for both members. Katsouris Fresh Foods employs 2,500 people at its three Park Royal plants, which provide ready meals to major retailers like Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury and Waitrose.
The GMB plans to hold protests outside the stores, starting with two branches of Marks & Spencer at Harrow and Brent Cross on the first weekend in October.
Meanwhile, another GMB action resulted in an average nine per cent pay increase for member workers at MoyPark's chicken processing plant in Anwick.
MoyPark employs about 1,000 staff. The GMB has been advocating higher minimum wages for its members, up to 6 pounds an hour.
"It is one of the best settlements in the history of GMB members at the site," said Andy Fletcher, a GMB spokesperson. "The settlement also demonstrates what strength in unity can achieve through collective bargaining."
The UK's national minimum wage increases by 30 pence to £5.35 per hour on 1 October 2006. A GMB study estimates about 1.3 million workers will benefit from the increase.
The GMB is calling on the Labour government to raise the rate to £6 per hour, saying it is still only about 40 per cent of the national average hourly pay rate of £13.10 per hour.
