Unite union members working at corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa in Northampton are currently taking industrial action after two members were allegedly fired for confronting the company about contract issues.
Starting today (1 April), the 108 Unite members working at Smurfit Kappa in Northampton have begun a 48-hour stoppage in support of two senior stewards who were fired. Unite claims that the firings came after the stewards ‘stood up to the company over “race to the bottom” contracts and alleged incorrect bonus payments’.
The workers had warned last week that the strike would go ahead unless the stewards were ‘immediately reinstated’. They have for the past week been ‘working to rule’ and initiated a month-long overtime ban on 24 March.
The case is due to be heard in court in April.
'A direct attack on our stewards and the fabric of our union'
Unite Regional Officer Mick Orpin said: “This fast moving dispute was initially in relation to the dismissal of our deputy senior steward and the suspension of our senior steward. However, since the work to rule action was agreed, our senior steward has now also been dismissed.
“In both cases it can be argued that this is a direct attack on our stewards and the fabric of our union for the following reasons.
“Both stewards were instrumental in bringing a claim against the employer for the incorrect payment of a bonus, going back a number and years, and has the potential of costing the company over £250,000.”
Orpin added that the two members were also “instrumental in resisting second generation contracts being introduced into the workplace last year” (which would have meant that new workers would have reportedly been paid less than existing workers, despite doing the same job) and claimed that the
Smurfit Kappa management was “behaving in a manner more suited to the industrial relations of 19th century than as a modern economy, which is the world’s sixth largest”.
Resource contacted Smurfit Kappa for a comment but the company said it could not comment.
The company is one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging in the world, and employs around 42,000 people across 32 countries.
Find out more about Unite’s grievances with Smurfit Kappa.
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