Saudi Arabian headscarf makers strike over pay

Staff at the factory in Cumbria make and weave headscarves

Workers making headscarves destined for the Saudi Arabian market are taking industrial action in a pay dispute.

Staff at Lappet Manufacturing in Carlisle are striking due to "low pay" and "punishing targets", according to GMB regional officer Michael Hall.

He said people were "extremely unhappy at the way things were at the moment".

Lappet Manufacturing said it did not recognise Mr Hall's "inflammatory" statements and it was committed to resolving the dispute "as soon as possible".

Workers first went on strike on Wednesday, and also walked out on Thursday and over the weekend.

A further eight days of strikes have been announced until mid-November, with workers prepared to take industrial action for longer if needed, Mr Hall added.

'Highly skilled jobs'

Lappet Manufacturing's Carlisle site makes high-end headscarves for the Saudi Arabian market, according to Mr Hall.

"Predominantly men downstairs work on the looms and the women, who do the weaving work, are upstairs," he said. "These are highly skilled jobs."

He said "there does not seem to be any structure to anybody's wages", and many of the women were on "minimum wage".

"If the targets aren't reached, they are basically excluded from doing any overtime," he claimed.

Lappet Manufacturing said it "questioned the validity" of Mr Hall's statements.

It said "punishing targets, adverse conditions or overtime criteria" had not been brought up by the union during the past eight months of negotiations.

A spokesperson said staff at its Carlisle site had received more than 12% in pay rises over 2022 and 2023, and it had offered a 3.9% pay rise for 2024.

"We believe this is in line with industry norms and within the constraints of the business," the spokesperson said.

Mr Hall said the proposed pay rise was not good enough and the staff, including some who had worked at the site for more than 30 years, "deserved more".