Fresh strike planned for Tarmac’s Essex plant

Further strikes by members of Unite, the UK’s largest union, were announced yesterday (February 20) at Tarmac Building Product’s Stanford-le-Hope plant .
 
The strikes are in response to the company’s decision to impose a new contract on new starters which will result in them receiving lower rates of pay, creating a two tier workforce.
 
New strike dates have been announced for Tuesday 6 and Thursday 8 March in addition to those already announced for Tuesday 20 and Thursday 22 March, a total of nine days of strike action. Further strike dates are set to be announced in the coming days.
 
Unite regional officer Guy Langston, said: “Tarmac was warned that further strike dates would be announced if this dispute was not resolved.  
“Unite members never take strike action lightly but they believe that the changes that Tarmac is making to contracts are the thin end of the wedge. Unite remains ready and willing to sit down and negotiate with Tarmac at any time.”

Tarmac  has already said that it is willing to continue talks with the union and that it is “executing business continuity plans to ensure we continue to service our customers if industrial action goes ahead”.