Fourteen workers walked out after claiming they had been ‘treated like numbers’ since the former family company was sold last April to Aggregate Industries.
The workforce is now threatening further, imminent strike action.Union representative for the strikers Nick Daley said the row erupted because Pallot workers were paid £3 less an hour than colleagues at Ronez, which is also owned by Aggregate Industries, for doing the same job.Ronez’s considerable workforce has signalled it will strike in sympathy with the Pallot workers should the dispute not be settled to union members’ satisfaction.A new pay deal was put on the table by bosses yesterday, but was rejected outright.Mr Daley said he was horrified to see the company trying to push measures which he believed would put his members’ safety in jeopardy.He said that his employers wanted to introduce a £22 monthly ‘injury bonus’ which would be handed out if there were no injuries among the workforce.
The proposal states that if one person is injured, all workers lose the bonus.
