Usdaw hopes that the Company will now return to the negotiating table with a significantly improved offer so that industrial action can be avoided.
The Sainsbury’s Waltham Point distribution centre specialises in distributing to Sainsbury’s stores within the Greater London area.
Nigel Scully, Usdaw Divisional Officer, says: “Usdaw has engaged positively with Sainsbury’s in an effort to reach a compromise, but the company has so far failed to make an offer acceptable to our members. This breakdown in negotiations has forced Usdaw to conduct an industrial action ballot and our members have overwhelmingly backed a series of 24 hour strikes.
“It is deeply regrettable that the company has pushed our members to this point and we urge them to bring forward an offer in line with our members’ expectations.”
The detailed ballot result is as follows:
- Number of individuals who were entitled to vote in the ballot: 380
- Number of votes cast in the ballot: 256
- Number of individuals answering “yes” to the question: 188
- Number of individuals answering “no” to the question: 68
- Number of spoiled or otherwise invalid voting papers returned: 0
The number of votes cast in the ballot was at least 50% of the number of individuals entitled to vote in the ballot.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 420,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
The formal
strike ballot of 380 members was conducted by an independent scrutineer (Electoral Reform Services), which opened on Tuesday, 28 May and closed at noon on Wednesday, 12 June.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
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