British Sugar workers to be balloted on industrial action

British Sugar workers in Newark are to be balloted on industrial action in a pay dispute.

Unite members at four British Sugar plants in the East of England will be balloted next week on industrial action, after the workforce rejected a 3.5% pay offer.

Unite, the largest union in the country, will begin balloting its 250 members on Wednesday of next week on whether to take strike action or industrial action short of a strike. The ballot closes on Wednesday, 12 October.

Unite’s members are based at the plants at Wissingham, near King’s Lynn; Cantley, near Great Yarmouth; Bury St Edmunds; and Newark in Nottinghamshire.

Unite is seeking a pay deal equal to Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation, currently running at 5.2%, plus 1/2% for the year April 2011-April 2012 for its members who include engineers and production staff.

Unite regional officer, Mick Doherty said: ‘Our members are being hit very hard by the soaring cost of living.

"British Sugar is a very profitable company, and despite its complaints that the sugar beet crop was hit by last winter’s bad weather, it is well able to afford a decent pay rise."

Meanwhile, the annual sugar beat campaign begins today.