Pennine Foods strike, 19.5.16, photo by A Tice

Pennine Foods strike, 19.5.16, photo by A Tice   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Pennine Foods – Strikers persuade delivery lorries to turn away

Alistair Tice, Yorkshire Socialist Party

Pickets sang “Where’s your veg gone, where’s your veg gone, far far away” after a wagon driver refused to cross the bakers’ union picket at the Pennine Foods strike in Sheffield this morning.

Hundreds of BFAWU bakers’ union members began a 48-hour strike at 6am against the company (part of the 2 Sisters group) imposing a new contract on all the workers which will cut some wages by as much as £80 a week.

Pennine Foods strikers, 19.5.16, photo by A Tice

Pennine Foods strikers, 19.5.16, photo by A Tice   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Pennine Foods supplies Marks and Spencer, so one homemade banner read: “This isn’t just any strike, It’s an M&S strike!”

In recent years, the bosses have employed new starters on new contracts paying no weekend, bank holiday or unsocial hour enhancements. Now that the workers on the older contracts (paying premium rates) are in a minority of the workforce, the company thought that it could get away with forcing a new contract on all the staff, removing all premium payments.

But, even though the newer contract workers would get a pay rise of £30 a week, they showed impressive solidarity by refusing to accept the new contract and voted to support their colleagues. In the ballot for strike action 85% voted in favour.

Pennine Foods strikers, 19.5.16, photo by  A Tice

Pennine Foods strikers, 19.5.16, photo by A Tice   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Over 100 new members have joined the union in the last week in this very multicultural workforce – around a third of the workers are black and Asian and another third eastern European.

Around 150 have stood on the picket lines. By early afternoon six delivery lorries had refused to cross the picket lines, boosting the confidence of these workers who are striking for the first time ever in the firm’s 28-year history.

At first the wagons weren’t stopping because management and security were coercing them in. So one young lad crossing the road in front of an approaching lorry stopped to tie his shoelace, and then the other shoe, forcing the driver to stop, allowing pickets to surround the cab and persuade the driver to drive on. This worked a second time! Then the police arrived and started inspecting shoelaces!

Pennine Foods strike picket - Stopping to tie a shoelace, 19.5.16, photo A Tice

Pennine Foods strike picket – Stopping to tie a shoelace, 19.5.16, photo A Tice   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

If the company doesn’t withdraw the imposition of the new contract, three more dates for 48-strikes have been set.

  • Please send messages of support to: [email protected] or [email protected]
  • Donations: Make cheques out to BFAWU and send to Pennine Strike Fund – BFAWU, Stanborough House, Great North Road, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 7TA.

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 19 May 2016 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.