Tesco Dagenham distribution centre; One-day Usdaw strike over pay in 2018. , photo Richard Groves

Tesco Dagenham distribution centre; One-day Usdaw strike over pay in 2018. , photo Richard Groves   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Proposed strike action at Tesco distribution centres in the run-up to Christmas has forced bosses back to the negotiating table and resulted in an improved offer.

Strike action by Unite members at depots in Antrim, Belfast, Didcot and Doncaster has been suspended as members vote on a new, improved offer of 5.5%. Usdaw re-entered talks with Tesco and strike action by 5,000 members at nine Tesco distribution centres in Daventry Clothing, Goole, Hinckley, Lichfield, Livingston, Magor (both trunk and main sites), Peterborough and Southampton has been suspended too as members ballot on an “improved offer” thought to be 5.5% from 15 December.

Tesco is trying to force workers into a real-terms pay cut, despite Tesco predicting an operating profit of £2.6 billion for the current financial year and praising its staff as ‘key workers’ during the pandemic. These workers helped keep the country fed, resulting in increased profits for the bosses – a 16.5% increase in the first half of the year. 5.5% would represent a victory after the rejection of an initial 4% offer, and shows the power the workers and unions, and the threat of strike action, have.