The Unite union is balloting workers at a Leicester factory about possible strike action over pay. The union says more than 100 workers are being balloted at the Trelleborg factory, which is on the northern edge of the city, after rejecting a 4 per cent pay rise and a £700 lump sum.
The union said: “With the real rate of inflation, RPI, standing at 11.4 per cent, this is a significant real terms pay cut.” The Swedish-based business – which makes dampeners, suspensions, pads and buffers for industry and the transport sector – said it had been negotiating with the union for the past four months, whose members had now decided to walk away from the talks.
Union leaders say are angry at the offer, and that the business – which they said makes products for Bombardier, Alstom, M.T.R.C, JBC, Caterpillar and John Deere – has been profitable in recent years and can afford to pay more to help its workers in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
Most recent financials for the UK Trelleborg business, covering 2021, showed pre-tax profits of £2.9 million – up from £2.3 million the year before – on a turnover of £32.2 million.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Trelleborg is making substantial profits but demanding its workforce shoulder a large real terms pay cut during a cost of living crisis.
“Our members are simply asking for a reasonable pay increase, which Trelleborg can more than afford to pay.
“Unite is entirely focused on defending and improving our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and Trelleborg’s Leicester workforce will be receiving the union’s full support.”
She said the strike ballot closes on June 21, with action expected to be announced shortly afterwards.
Unite regional officer Lakhy Mahal said: “Trelleborg’s customers will not be pleased if their supply chains are disrupted by the company’s greed.
“Trelleborg’s management need to put forward an offer that is acceptable to our members – it can clearly afford to.”
The union said strikes over pay at Trelleborg’s factories in Gloucestershire and Somerset ended last week after workers accepted a “significantly improved” offer from the company.
Alex Carter, plant manager at the Hoods Close factory in Leicester, told BusinessLive: “I can confirm that Trelleborg has been negotiating with the union at Leicester for four months now on this year’s pay claim.
“It has been our ambition to come to an agreement and we have proposed a range of offers for discussion.
“The union has chosen to leave the negotiations and lodged a failure to agree.
“However Trelleborg remains open for discussions and hope that the union is willing to discuss and continue further negotiations so that industrial action up to and including a strike can be averted.”
