No progress as Morrisons strike leaves supermarket shelves empty

Staff at Morrisons Gadbrook have completed the first wave of strike action as part of a dispute over pensions.

Warehouse workers gathered outside the vegetable packhouse for three days, until 5am on Sunday (May 26), in a bid to make their voices heard.

However, regional officer for Unite the Union Paul Lomax says there has been no progress thus far.

“There has been at present no contact from Morrisons to arrange a further meeting to settle this dispute,” he said.

“The support was overwhelming from the Morrisons staff as all of the operatives took part in the dispute.

“We also had support from Eddie Stobart drivers as they refused to drive the trucks. 

“Some of the stores appear to have had no deliveries and the shelves were empty at various stores within the UK.”

READ MORE: Morrisons workers call for public support as strike over pensions gets underway

Staff gathered outside Morrisons Gadbrook on Thursday morning (May 23) (Image: Newsquest)

In total, around 1,000 Unite members working as stock controllers, cooks, canteen staff and administrators went on strike across two Morrisons warehouses – the other being in Wakefield.

Their work ensures lorries are loaded and shelves filled at nearly 500 supermarkets and convenience stores.

Unite claim that these workers are being forced to increase their pension contributions while Morrisons reduces its contribution by the same amount.

This would mean employees are around £500 worse off in their pay packets each year.

Unite is also looking to address concerns such as a new pick rate, the removal of a long service award, changes to job roles, and a failure to correctly follow absence policies.

Should no agreement be reached, staff will head to the picket line again for three days from 5am on Thursday (June 13).

Empty shelves have been spotted at Morrisons supermarkets this week (Image: Supplied)

Speaking before the first wave of strike action, Morrisons said they made a number of proposals to Unite, new proposals, including a nine per cent pay award, a new Service Award scheme and improvements to the planned future Pension Scheme changes.

“Disappointingly, Unite has chosen to reject these new proposals without putting them to its members, and instead are continuing with strike action at two out of our seven logistics sites, initially over three days," a Morrisons spokesperson said.

“The two affected depots at Gadbrook and Wakefield are open but operating at a reduced capacity. 

“We have put in place detailed contingency plans across the business and are confident that our customers, stores, suppliers and partners will not be significantly affected. 

“We remain open to further dialogue with the union.”

Asked for an update following the initial strike action, Morrisons stated there is 'nothing further to share at this time'.