Morrisons staff strike in pensions row

Unite accused Morrisons of "refusing to negotiate", though the supermarket said it had offered workers a 9% pay rise

About 1,000 Morrisons staff in West Yorkshire and Cheshire have started strike action in a row over pensions and take-home pay.

Staff at the supermarket's warehouses in Wakefield and Northwich are taking part in industrial action which began at 05:00 BST on Thursday and runs until 05:00 on Sunday.

The trade union Unite said Morrisons had "refused to negotiate" over changes to its members' pensions and other perks.

Morrisons, which is based in Bradford, said it had offered workers a 9% pay increase.

The supermarket said the two warehouses remained open but were operating at a reduced capacity.

Unite said that workers were being forced to increase their own pension contributions while Morrisons reduces theirs by the same amount.

The union said this left workers £500 a year worse off.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Unite is focused on our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and these unmerited changes to workers’ pensions will leave our members worse off every month.

"Unite will not stand for such behaviour from any employer, let alone one like Morrisons who is raking in massive profits during a cost-of-living crisis.

"Its flagrant profiteering and then cutting our members’ take-home pay is a disgrace."

In a statement, Morrisons said: "We have made a number of new proposals to Unite including a 9% pay award, a new service award scheme and improvements to the planned future pension scheme changes.

"Disappointingly, Unite has chosen to reject these new proposals without putting them to its members, and instead are continuing with strike action at two out of our seven logistics sites, initially over three days.

"We remain open to further dialogue with the union."

Unite said a further strike was scheduled to be held between 13 and 16 June.

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