Fifty workers at the UK's only coffin-manufacturing hub are to go on strike this month for seven days.
The craft workers at the Co-op Funeralcare factory in Glasgow have rejected a pay offer, which they say is a real-terms cut.
The staff who work at the Shieldhall facility will walk out on Monday, October 31 and will stay on strike for up to seven days unless there is a resolution.
Their union has said the offer from the Co-op is “less than half” of the latest estimate of inflation according to the retail price index (RPI), at 12.3 per cent.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “The Co-op trades on being different to bad employers.
"It should not be proposing a real-terms pay cut for their Funeralcare workers, especially when they can well afford to pay fairly.
"We will fully support our Co-op members in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”
The union said the firm is making healthy profits but refusing to make an acceptable offer when the cost of living is rising.
It said in 2021 the firm made a profit of £12m.
Willie Thomson, Unite industrial officer, added: “Co-op Funeralcare has left our members with no option but to take strike action as they have failed to table an acceptable wage offer.
“We have given negotiations every opportunity to resolve this dispute but the Co-op are failing to recognise the cost-of-living crisis.
“Unite’s members are sending a clear message by taking strike action that the wage offer is unacceptable, and they are determined to fight for a better wage deal.”
The union said the strike was voted for by 96 per cent of members on a turnout of 86 per cent and will completely halt production at the factory.
The Co-op has reassured people that the strike will have “no impact” on its ability to support bereaved families, and it has a strong supply of coffins available.
A spokeswoman said: “Our colleagues at our Glasgow coffin factory are a hugely valued part of our Co-op and following ongoing discussions with Unite we are disappointed that we have not been able to reach an agreement about pay.
“In spite of the difficult trading environment, we have offered all of our colleagues at the coffin factory a fair pay increase.
"We are confident that the combined base pay and production bonus for roles within the coffin factory remain highly competitive.”
Strikes or ballots for industrial action have become a regular occurrence as workers across the country join the growing campaign for pay rises to match soaring inflation during the cost-of-living crisis.
The new "winter of discontent" comes amid worsening industrial relations and accusations by union officials that the Government is doing little or nothing to help workers struggling with mounting bills.
Teachers and hospital staff are among those being balloted on industrial action, while barristers called off an indefinite strike after accepting a Government pay rise of 15% on legal aid fees for most crown cases.
Here are some of the upcoming strikes and potential disputes over the next few weeks:
- October 24: Workers on the Woolwich Ferry in London will stage a five-day strike in a row over pay, after the Unite union accused Transport for London of refusing to discuss a pay deal for this year.
- October 27: More than 400,000 health workers - including nursing staff, ambulance crews, hospital porters and cleaners - will begin being balloted for strikes over pay.
- October 31: Coffinmakers at a factory in Bogmoor Place, Glasgow are set to strike over pay every day until November 7.
- November 2: A strike ballot of Royal College of Nursing members closes.
- November 11: A strike ballot of Royal College of Midwives members opens.
- Date TBC: A strike ballot over a pay dispute will be held among GMB union members at East Midlands Ambulance Service and West Midlands Ambulance Service.
- Date TBC: Environment Agency workers and members of the National Association of Headteachers will vote on whether to pursue industrial action.
