Workers at the Dumfries-based DuPont Teijin Film (DTF) packaging plant will strike over pay in a series of stoppages over September, the Unite union has announced.
Around 100 Unite members had already launched an overtime ban at the factory in July, but a failure to resolve the dispute will see them take part in five rounds of 12-hour stoppages, taking place on 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 September respectively. The overtime also remains in place.
At the end of July, Unite warned DTF that it would have “no option” but to consider all-out strike action unless the company improved its pay offer of 3.3%. The union accused DTF of “bypassing the agreed collective bargaining procedures” to impose the offer in April. Unite said this represented “a brutal wage cut”, with the broader rate of inflation (RPI) remaining “stubbornly high” throughout the year and currently standing at 9%.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Unite’s Dupont membership are not prepared to tolerate a company which imposes a wage offer, and also refuses to talk with the workforce’s trade union. A 3.3% offer represents a massive, real terms pay cut and our members won’t stand for it.”
DTF makes polymer film for use in industrial packaging, as well as healthcare, alternative energy, electronics, electrical insulation and capacitors. The company is a supplier of food packaging to major UK supermarkets, as well as institutional catering for hospitals, schools and home meals for the elderly. Its European manufacturing sites are based in Dumfries and Luxembourg, with its Global Innovation Centre located in Teesside.
Benefits Expert has approached DTF for comment.
