TESCO distribution staff have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action amid disputes over pay

In two separate ballots, Usdaw members have voted 73 per cent and 84 per cent in favour of industrial action as a result of disputes over pay.

The two ballots separately cover nine Tesco Distribution sites.

Following the result, Usdaw has today given notice of a stoppage starting on Monday, December 20 and concluding on Christmas Eve.

The two disputes involve more than 5,000 Usdaw union members at nine Tesco distribution centres - Daventry Clothing, Goole, Hinckley, Lichfield, Livingston, Magor (both trunk and main sites), Peterborough and Southampton.

Members had rejected a four per cent annual pay increase and Usdaw urges the company to improve the offer to avoid pre-Christmas disruption in stores.

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Joanne McGuinness - Usdaw National Officer says: “Our members have sent a clear message, with this high turnout and strong support for industrial action.

"We hope that the company is listening and that they will return to the negotiating table with a better deal that is acceptable to our members.

“Retail distribution workers are key workers who delivered essential services throughout the pandemic, which in turn delivered a 16.5 per cent increase in profit to Tesco for the first half of the year.

"These workers deserve a decent pay rise as their reward for what they have done and continue to do day in day out; couple that with the rising cost of living and inflation currently running at 6 per cent, the company needs to do better.

“Industrial action and possible stock shortages in stores in the week before Christmas can be avoided.
"It needs the company to engage positively in talks with Usdaw and we stand ready to reopen negotiations.”

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with more than 380,000 members.