When workers at pallet company CHEP UK’s Trafford warehouse decided to take strike action over a pay dispute back in December last year, many expected it to only last a couple of weeks.
But now, halfway into April, the 65-strong workers are still striking. 19 weeks in, the strikers say they are more resilient than ever and the long days at the picket line have only strengthened their initial reasons for taking industrial action.
In December, workers at the Trafford Park base said bosses at CHEP, which repairs and supplies pallets for supporting and transporting goods to companies such as Heinz, Coca-Cola and Heineken, were refusing to improve on a ‘below inflation pay offer’ despite the industry allegedly booming in demand.
READ MORE: Manchester United start plans to expand and modernise Old Trafford
Staff are asking for a five per cent pay offer, which they say would still leave them working on a ‘pay cut’ with inflation rate and rising costs considered. Last month, the company's pay offer of two per cent was rejected by strikers. The striking members are being represented by the Unite trade union, and the action is now considered to be the union’s longest-running strike in its 15-year history.
And it could be set to last a lot longer, too. On Thursday (April 14), workers rejected CHEP’s latest pay offer, which means that the four-month strike could continue well into the summer. With the rejection, workers currently have a mandate to strike until at least May 19.
“It’s a long time - it’s definitely dragged on and on,” one worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told the M.E.N. “I definitely didn’t think it would last this long - I honestly thought it’d be done by January.
“I never in a million years imagined this would happen, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be resolved anytime soon. We seem to be stuck at a stalemate with the company right now.”
Unite estimated bosses would only need to increase its current pay offer by around £67,000 to resolve the dispute. However, attempts on an agreement remain unsuccessful.
CHEP bosses say they have ‘made several improvements’ to the original pay offer, and remain hopeful that an ‘agreeable’ solution will be made as soon as possible. In the meantime, those striking have been off work since December 17 - when full-time strike action commenced - and have had to be financially supported by Unite and other trade unions since.
“I’m tired like you wouldn’t even believe,” the worker, who has been at the company for more than ten years, adds. “At first, it was okay because we didn’t think it would last this long but we’re now working with the idea of potentially another three months.
“It’s sometimes hard motivating each other as we picket from 10pm until 6am every day but we know it’s important to do. We’ve come through some of the most difficult months, but despite that, spirits remain high. We remain positive.”
Staff at the warehouse - and other CHEP bases across the UK - were considered to be key workers during the pandemic as they continued to provide supermarkets and businesses with pallets to deliver their goods.
“We were told throughout the pandemic we were key workers and maybe at the end of it, there might be something for us in 2021,” the worker explains. “But the offer we got was actually worse than what we had in previous years. The company made vast profits and yet they didn’t seem to want to share it with us. It ended up stirring quite a bit of anger amongst us.”
In a recent statement, CHEP UK outlined that staff at Trafford Park were the only workers in the company striking. CHEP said all other service centres were now enjoying the ‘increased pay and benefits offered’ after agreeing to the same deal.
“The Manchester base is being seen as this naughty child of the company that’s not behaving itself but that’s not the case,” the worker explains. “I genuinely think the other centres accepted because they’re just not as developed as we are and I mean that with no disrespect.
“They’re not at a point where we are in terms of as a group and that comes from a number of things we’ve had to go through in the past. Right now, we have reps that the lads have more faith and trust in and believe what is being said. We know that what is being offered isn’t right.
“I think they’re just kicking the can down the road for later on with other depots. They will come knocking at some point and those depots will remember what happened and how we were treated.”
Essentially, the workers at Trafford Park say they feel they should be rewarded for their commitment to what is a ‘physically tasking job’. The union member says: “I wish they would just show some gratitude for the staff working there. We’re not asking for much.
“We just want something that we see is tangible in a cost of living crisis and for working through the pandemic as key workers. We feel that the physical aspects of our job, and the risk to injuries that it carries, are worth the reward.
“When other companies are catching up on pay offers, you start asking yourself why we put ourselves through such a physical job when we could get a similar wage for something that’s a lot less taxing on the body.
“I just want them to wake up, see the vast profits that they’re making, and see that we deserve a fair pay reward. Give us something that we think is fair.
“It’s a bit of an insult when the company dangles these types of offers in front of us when we know how much they are making in profit. We believe five per cent is fair, we’re being very reasonable."
Despite this, the worker says that they, like their colleagues, still enjoy working at CHEP and want to get back to their job. “It’s a good vibe,” they confess.
“It keeps me physically fit and there’s a good set of lads there. In general, we all like working there. We are hard-working people - you have to be when it’s such a physically demanding job - and we feel we should be rewarded for that.”
When asked if they see an end in sight for strike action, the worker says that is up to CHEP. “I’m prepared to strike until we get what we want,” they say. “I’m not backing down.”
Unite, the union representing the workers at CHEP, said it was fully behind the commitment of staff at the Trafford Park warehouse. General secretary Sharon Graham said: “CHEP is a very profitable company. It can easily afford to pay properly.
“With household bills going through the roof, management needs to get serious and come back with a pay rise, not a cut in living standards. The workforce has the full support of Unite as they prepare to vote in their fight for pay justice, which could see strikes continuing into the summer.”
In a statement, a CHEP UK spokesperson said: “The continued industrial action taking place at CHEP’s Manchester service centre is as a result of an ongoing dispute of the pay offer made to employees at the site by Unite the Union. As part of our annual pay review process, we have offered competitive pay and employee benefit proposals to all our employees in our UK network for our current and next fiscal year.
“This included an increase in base pay and enhanced non-financial and wellbeing benefits. This proposal was quickly accepted by all other CHEP service centre sites across the UK, (two of which are represented by Unite). All of the UK sites, except for Manchester, are already receiving the increased pay and benefits offered.
“Our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of our employees, and since negotiations began, we have made several improvements to the financial and non-financial components of our pay offer. We believe that our revised pay offer is fair and competitive in our network and across our industry and are disappointed that our increased offers have not been accepted.
“We have a long history of successful, good faith negotiations and hope to reach an amicable and agreeable solution as soon as possible. We are continuing to operate on a business-as-usual basis and will stay fully focused on providing excellent service, together with our partners, to our customers.”
