Will the Bru get through?

Unite members at A.G. Barr's Cumbernauld hub are backing strike action after rejecting a 5% pay increase

Truck drivers are among those backing industrial action.
Author: Stephanie AllisonPublished 7th Jul 2023

Unite the union has confirmed it's members at the A.G. Barr's Cumbernauld plant have backed strike action.

It's part of an escalating row over pay.

Around a dozen trucker and shunter drivers at the company’s Cumbernauld production and distribution centre backed strike action by 83 per cent.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, said: “Summer supplies of Irn-Bru could fizzle out in a matter of weeks due to A.G. Barr’s derisory pay offer. The company has £52.9m sitting in the bank, yet management are refusing to share this massive money pot with their workers. We will back our members all the way in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

READ MORE: Irn Bru supplies "under threat" from industrial action.

The strike action ballot result follows the rejection of a 5 per cent pay offer.

The offer equates to a real-terms pay cut of 6.3 per cent, based on the current RPI rate of 11.3 per cent.

Andy Brown, Unite industrial officer said: “Unite’s members emphatically backed strike action due to A.G. Barr’s tight-fistedness. What’s currently on the table is really taking the fizz. It’s totally unacceptable because the company is cash rich. We remain open to resolving this dispute through negotiation but unless there is a significant improvement in the pay offer strike action is on the cards.”

A date for the walk out has yet to be set.

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