Workers of DS Smith Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of DS Smith, will strike over pay in the run up to Christmas, Unite, the UK’s leading union, has informed.
An initial seven days of strike action will take place between 20 and 27 November, with strike action set to intensify throughout December if the dispute is not resolved, the union added.
The drivers, based in Launceston in Cornwall, Sittingbourne in Kent, Avonmouth in Bristol and Tuxford in Nottinghamshire, have rejected a 5 per cent pay offer, stating that this offer represented a significant real terms pay cut.
The strike will affect DS Smith customers like Amazon, Direct Wines, Cadbury and Haribo. The drivers also provide delivery services for British Gypsum, VPK Packaging, Cepac, Board 24 and Sinat Portbury and pick up recycling at distribution centres for Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Coop, ASOS, Biffa and Veolia. A large pile-up of uncollected cardboard recycling will cause significant disruptions to the operations of these companies, Unite stated.
