Hovis workers end strike after bosses agree new pay deal

By Q Radio News

Striking workers at the Hovis bakery in Belfast have accepted a pay offer from management.  

Unite the union says the latest offer means staff will get a 12 per cent rise over three years. 

The breakthrough came after days of negotiations. 

The strike action had threatened the supply of bread across Northern Ireland. 

Striking workers at the Hovis bakery in Belfast have accepted a pay offer from management. https://t.co/vdPWIHmqnh

— Q Radio News (@qnewsdesk) May 24, 2021

A management offer of a 3% pay increase was rejected by workforce representatives who said it didn’t deliver on Northern Ireland workforce pay parity with Hovis workers in Great Britain.  

Unite says post-Brexit red tape was making it more difficult for bread to be brought in from Britain as supply falters at the Apollo Road site in south Belfast.  

Sean McKeever, Regional Officer for Unite confirmed that a vote conducted at mass, socially-distanced meeting at the Hovis’ Apollo Road site, members of both Unite and the Baker’s union voted overwhelmingly to accept the latest, improved pay offer from management and conclude their eleven day long strike action.

(Sean McKeever, from Unite, confirmed that the strike action will end after agreed pay deal)

“This result is a huge victory for these workers – a victory won through determined all-out strike action which extended to eleven days. I wish to congratulate our members and those of the Baker’s union for their stand and their unity in pursuit of the demand for a fair pay increase; this demonstrates the benefit of collective organisation and a preparedness to take militant industrial action. 

“This strike should never have had to occur; it reflected a total failure on the part of a management who repeatedly underestimated their own workforce. These workers have been forced to stand around the clock at picket lines for eleven days to win a pay deal that should have been made long ago. As a result of this entirely avoidable strike action, not a single loaf of bread was baked in 12 days, and supermarket and retailer shelves have been left bare of Hovis bread as well as a variety of bread products made by these workers, including bagels and pancakes.

“After this vote, workers will return to production lines tomorrow [Tuesday May 25^th] at 6am. They do so knowing that they retain the power to take on the bosses.

“The strike action by Hovis workers is a shining example of how, through standing together, working-class people can improve their lot even during a pandemic. This exemplary eleven-day, all-out strike demonstrates what is needed if workers are to tackle the corporate race to the bottom. I’m very proud to have stood with these workers in that fight. The workforce is going back into this workplace more organised than ever before”, Mr McKeever concluded. 

Striking Hovis workers have voted 79% in favour of a 2 year pay deal this morning which has ended all out industrial action. This a massive victory for workers and shows the importance of collective organisation and willingness to take industrial action ✊ ✊ pic.twitter.com/IAFqQiRhaY

— Unite the Union NI (@UniteunionNI) May 24, 2021