Union leader meets striking food factory workers

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Bakkavor could "fully afford to pay its workers fairly".

A union leader has met with workers taking industrial action at a Lincolnshire food factory.

More than 400 staff at Bakkavor in Spalding have been on strike since 27 September in a dispute over pay.

Sharon Graham, Unite union's general secretary, said the firm could "fully afford to pay its workers fairly but is choosing not to".

The company said its pay offer was "well above inflation and the national living wage".

More than 400 workers at Bakkavor have been on strike since 27 September

Unite said the employees, who make meals for supermarkets, earn just above the minimum wage.

Ms Graham added: "This is simply about greed not need."

One of the workers, Judita Viegas, said she thought staff deserved "more than they are paying for us".

"I have three kids and they're saying inflation goes down, but everything else goes up," she said.

"So I think this is a fair for us to have a pay rise, equal for everyone."

Bakkavor said it had offered 7.8% pay rises to its lowest paid workers and 6.4% to other staff.

It said about 35% of the workforce was on strike, with the remaining 800 continuing to work at the site as normal.

General manager Sadie Woodhouse said the firm was "disappointed" in the strike action, adding it respected the "role that unions play generally in protecting workers’ rights".

"However, it makes no sense for a union to call for a strike against a business that is already looking after its people, creating employment in the local community, investing in training and putting forward above-inflation pay rises," she said.

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