Almost 1,000 GMB Union members at DS Smith, a packaging manufacturer which supplies Amazon, Brewdog, Diageo and McVities have voted to take industrial action
DS Smith has tabled an offer of a 3 per cent consolidated increase plus a non-consolidated payment of £760 for 2022-23 which, according to GMB Union with inflation at 12.3 per cent, represents a real terms pay cut for members who worked throughout the pandemic.
Workers at five sites – Louth, Lincolnshire, Featherstone, in Yorkshire, Clay Cross, in Derbyshire, Devizes, in Wiltshire and Livingston, in Scotland could take part in the strike, as early as the end of the month.
Eamon O’Hearn, GMB National Secretary, said: “DS Smith members worked through the pandemic, helping keep the company afloat through troubled times.
“It turns out that the company was hugely profitable during the pandemic, now they need the company to step up and help them through the cost of living crisis.
“A strike at DS Smith could have serious implications across a range of household names – not least Amazon which gets packaging from the company.
“DS Smith can afford to do better – they need to table a serious offer that respects the contribution of our members, to nip this industrial action in the bud.”
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