Tesco shoppers face empty shelves due to Christmas strike Business

Tesco buyers face the prospect of empty supermarket shelves at Christmas, as warehouse workers and delivery men strike for wages, the Unite union has warned.

More than 1,000 truck drivers and warehouse workers at four of Tesco’s distribution centers voted in favor of strike action from December 16, forcing Britain’s largest supermarket to shift supplies.

Unite said the strikes – in Didcot in Oxfordshire, Doncaster, and Antrim and Belfast in Northern Ireland – would mean that “Tesco buyers in many parts of the UK are facing empty shelves as they approach. of Christmas “.

Another strike is possible at Tesco’s largest UK delivery depot in Livingston in West Lothian, with the results of a class action ballot to be closed today. The workers’ union in shops, distribution and allied sectors is also questioning Tesco employees about possible strike action.

Tesco offered workers a 4% pay rise, up from a previous proposal of 2.5%, but Unite said this amounted to a pay cut in real terms, due to the increase in 6% of the retail price index, a measure of inflation. The commonly used consumer price index was 4.2 percent in October.

Workers at Didcot and Doncaster are scheduled to strike for a total of 12 days, including the five days leading up to December 25, and a 48-hour strike from December 16 – a key period for online deliveries that are made to stores Tesco. More strikes are planned after Christmas and the New Year.

Those in Northern Ireland will strike “continuously” from December 16, the union said.

Tesco has around 20 distribution centers in the UK and Unite has said the strikes will affect Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and southern England.

The company said it was taking steps to limit the damage caused by the strikes and was “confident” it would be able to handle.

He said the 4pc compensation offer was one of the most generous in recent history.

It is believed that negotiations with Unite are continuing, which could avert a strike.