A UNION has called on management at Glen Dimplex to "get back around the table" for pay talks as strike action at the firm's Whiston site entered its second week.
Last Monday (August 7), workers from the home appliances factory on Stoney Lane began a course of industrial action over pay after negotiations with management at the Irish-headquartered firm reached gridlock.
The Community Union says the company responded to calls for a pay rise for workers by refusing to increase pay and proposing to reduce the working week - a suggestion which it says members at Glen Dimplex have deemed "unacceptable".
The workforce at Glen Dimplex took their call for a pay rise to the streets last week with a well-attended march and rally in nearby Prescot town centre.
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Gavin Miller, Community Union's national officer for light industries, said: "No one at Glen Dimplex wants to be on strike, but the industrial action in Merseyside has now entered its second week as a direct result of the company's refusal to engage with the constructive and reasonable suggestions Community reps have put forward on pay over the last nine months.
"This is not a company that is hard-up: it's a multi-national business with an annual turnover of €944m Euros which is seeing its profits rise by tens of millions of pounds each year. Workers at the factory in Whiston contribute to that success, and the company is now relying on them to build new product ranges which they hope will further boost profit margins. The very least the company can do is pay them a wage which reflects the skilled work they undertake.
"Glen Dimplex have it within their power to end this dispute, and it's not too late to get back around the table."
When approached by the Star about the dispute, a Glen Dimplex Home Appliances spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that members of the Community Union, who are employed by Glen Dimplex Home Appliances at our Prescot site, have announced their intention to strike for two weeks from August 7, in a dispute over pay.
“We have been in discussions with our colleagues, via representatives of the Community Union, for some time with regards to their pay increase demands, with the aim of reaching an acceptable outcome. A revised pay offer was made but that has recently been rejected.
“As a business, we have always paid our colleagues a competitive salary above minimum wage. This year we offered a significant pay increase along with a change to a shorter, four-day working week.
"However, this was rejected and pending a collective agreement some of our colleagues find themselves earning minimum wage following the national minimum wage increase in April this year.
“Manufacturing at the Prescot site will continue at reduced levels during the industrial action."
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