Union fighting for change as self-isolating Northampton Greencore employees paid £95 a week

A union that represents staff at Greencore has launched a collective grievance against the company on the grounds of the current sick pay situation, as well as crowdfunder to top-up employees’ wages.

The Moulton Park-based food manufacturer is at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak as 292 colleagues have tested positive.Nearly 300 members of staff are now self-isolating, but are on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), so are being paid less than £100 a week for the 10 days when they have to stay away from work.

According to The Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union, ‘majority’ of the workforce who are off for Covid-related reasons are living on just £95.85, which has led some members to turn to food banks despite having a full-time job.

Other members have been evicted after struggling to pay their rent and concerns have also been expressed that colleagues may not self-isolate if they are displaying coronavirus symptoms as they are afraid to receive the lower payment, which the union has previously linked to the number of cases at the factory.To combat these issues and improve conditions, the union has launched a collective grievance against the company.

In an open letter to Greencore, the union said: “Our members raised many concerns in relation to their financial difficulties.

“Some of them are being evicted as a result of not being able to pay rent, others were forced to use food banks for the first time in their lives, having a full-time job.

“It is unfair on them to rely only on SSP, currently, £95.85 per week, especially as those absences are directly caused by workplace-related infections.

“It is also unfair that shop floor workers are being treated differently to the managers enjoying full company sick pay.”

In the meantime, as the grievance is considered by the company, and in a bid to help its members and give them financial support, the union has also launched a crowdfunding campaign.

It is hoped the campaign will raise enough money to top-up wages slightly and the union is asking the public to donate, if they can, even if it is only a small amount. The crowdfunder can be found here.Branch representative for the union, Nicolae Macari, added: “The only thing the company has done to help its workforce is move the attendance bonus of £400, but that is supposed to be in December for members to enjoy Christmas.

“We cannot see where else the company is trying to help.

“By raising the collective grievance, we’re hoping the company will start to support their workforce.

“As a union we have also put some money in to help and we have set up the crowdfunder as quite a lot of people are now really struggling, so we want to help take the pressure off.

“All the money raised will go towards helping those who are struggling just to survive, not even to live, just to help with paying bills and buying food.”

This is not the first time Greencore has come under fire for its stance on paying SSP during the coronavirus pandemic.

Towards the beginning of lockdown, an employee who was classified in the vulnerable category, told the Chronicle & Echo that he would only receive SSP if he decided to shield for a number of weeks.

At the time, the company made it clear that sick pay was part of all workers’ contracts and ranges from ‘full pay to Statutory Sick Pay’.

To help aid the most recent pay fight, the union’s regional president has also issued a message of solidarity for members on SSP.

Douglas Johnstone said: “When people have been testing positive for the disease, they are then thrown to the wolves, having their wages slashed to only survive on the basic statutory sick pay after risking their lives for Greencore.

“This is a disgrace and totally unacceptable that our comrades in Greencore should be treated in such a manner.

“Greencore’s profits go up every year, yet they seem to forget who made these profits for them.”

In response to the collective grievance raised by the union, the company has reiterated the advance on the attendance bonus, which has been given to all employees regardless of attendance, as well as an additional sum of money that was paid to staff.

A Greencore spokesman said: “In the event that colleagues have had to self-isolate, they have continued to be paid in line with the terms of their contract.

“This ranges from full pay to Statutory Sick Pay, depending on the type of contract. In recognition of the financial impact that those on Statutory Sick Pay are facing, we have decided to give all weekly paid colleagues at the site an additional payment of £400.

“This is a bonus that would normally be paid based on attendance at the end of the year, but we have decided to waive the usual criteria and give it to all weekly paid colleagues now regardless of their attendance record.

“This follows on from a recent bonus which averaged £260 per colleague and was paid to all weekly paid front-line staff in order to recognise their huge contribution while lockdown was in place.

“We are doing everything that we can to support our colleagues during this challenging period, and as ever their health and well-being is our number one priority.”

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