‘Scrooge boss of the year’

Unite has accused 3M of being a Scrooge employer after the company’s management decided that workers will have to work between Christmas and New Year for the first time in decades.

The management at 3M, which makes respirators and dust masks, this week, informed Unite representatives that the workforce would now be expected to work for the three days between Christmas and New Year. The change of policy was a direct response to the workers rejecting a proposed 1.5 per cent pay increase.

Members rejected the latest pay offer, which is just half the current rate of inflation and would mean a real terms pay cut, after having experienced below inflation rate pay rises for several years.

“Even before Halloween and Bonfire Night we have a clear contender for Scrooge boss of the year,” said Unite regional officer Mark Sanderson. “It is outrageous that for the first time in decades 3M management are insisting that the workforce will have to work between Christmas and New Year.

“This is simply an attempt by management to bully, blackmail and intimidate the workforce to accept a pay offer which is once again a real terms pay cut,” he added.

“The company’s bullying is set to rebound, as the workforce rather than being cowed into submission, are now even more determined to secure a decent pay rise.

“If the management want to prevent this dispute from escalating they need to reverse the decision to cancel the annual Christmas shutdown and dramatically improve the pay offer, to meet the needs and expectations of the workforce.”