Heinz strike called off – for now
A planned strike this week at the UK Heinz factory near Wigan has been called off after a new pay offer from the company.
Day-long talks between the Unite union and management resulted in a new package being put to workers.
The union agreed to suspend the strike ahead of a fresh ballot of its members over the offer but said if the deal was rejected there would be further strike action on 11 January.
Under the revised deal, staff would receive a 3.5 per cent pay increase in year one plus a £200 one-off payment, and an increase of 3.4 per cent in year two together with a performance-related bonus.
A further increase for shift workers of between 0.6 per cent and 1.6 per cent is part of the deal.
“We have worked hard to improve what we already believed was a very fair offer in order to bring an end to the dispute,” says a spokesman for Heinz.