‘Fire and rehire’ strike ballot at Boots company
VOTING STARTS ON TUESDAY AT BCM FAVERA AT BEESTON
A UNION is set to hold a strike ballot as staff at a Nottingham firm responsible for making many Boots products hit out over “fire and rehire”.
Officials at Udsaw, which represents the shop and distribution workers, have confirmed that the ballot will begin on Tuesday.
It follows a more-than-year-long dispute with BCM Favera Ltd, with the union attempting to reach an agreement despite a pay freeze.
BCM Ltd is part of French firm Favera and supplies skin care and pharmaceutical products. It employs 800 people at its site in the grounds of Boots’ headquarters in Beeston.
Around 300 of the workforce are said to be part of the Usdaw union, and the union has raised concerns over what it describes as the company preemptively “threatening to fire and rehire staff” over pay changes.
The union says it has requested repeatedly for a “meaningful consultation” on changes to contracts.
Proposed changes include, the union says, slashing members’ terms and conditions including sick payments and redundancy provisions.
Usdaw said staff had worked throughout the coronavirus pandemic and “believe they deserve better”.
Daniel Adams, Usdaw national officer, said: “The proposal to drastically cut sick pay and other terms and conditions for these key workers, who have given their all through the coronavirus pandemic, is totally unacceptable.
“Coupled with the unnecessary threat to ‘fire and rehire’ staff before we had even started discussions, the company’s course of action means we have been left with little choice other than to ballot our members for industrial action.
“Ninety percent of Usdaw members voted in favour of industrial action in a consultative ballot, which shows the strength of feeling on the company’s proposals and their confrontational approach.
“BCM Favera can stop this now, if they withdraw their ‘fire and rehire’ threat.”
BCM – previously known as Boots Contract Manufacturing – was under the ownership of Us-based Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) until 2017. Favera acquired BCM that year. Last year John Andrews, head of HR for BCM Ltd, said: “We’ve been in pay talks for the whole year and obviously talking to Usdaw about pay because we have a union agreement where we negotiate with Usdaw for operator pay.
“And we started at the front end of the year, before the pandemic, and the company’s view was it’s pay freeze.
“And then of course the pandemic happened and both sides agreed to pause any negotiations.
“We restarted again in September – we’ve reiterated pay freeze.
“The union decided to have a consultative industrial action ballot – so that’s basically a ballot run by the union.
“Unions can ballot whenever they like – but it’s a consultative ballot for industrial action.
“That’s where the 60 percent of people who voted voted in favour of taking industrial action.
“So we then sat down again, we’ve reiterated that it’s still zero – that’s why the union has now decided that, because our conversations have concluded now, that’s why they now want to go ahead and have a formal industrial action ballot.”
Mr Andrews said the company assumed there could potentially be a vote for strike action.
BCM Favera can stop this now, if they withdraw their ‘fire and rehire’ threat
Daniel Adams, Usdaw