Smurfit Kappa strike on hold

The four day strike at corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa in Northampton, due to start on Friday (April 17), has been suspended.

 

This is to allow the appeals of the two sacked senior stewards to be heard on Friday. There will then be a mass meeting of Unite’s 108 members on Sunday (April 19) to discuss the outcome of the appeals.

 

 Unite regional officer Mick Orpin noted that if the appeals were to fail, the strike “remains very much on the cards. However,we are hopeful of a successful outcome, so we can rebuild relations with the company for the benefit of all,” he said.

 

Unite members have already taken two days of strike action on April 1 and 2  in support of their two dismissed colleagues who stood up to the company over ‘race to the bottom’ contracts and alleged incorrect bonus payments, as UniteLive reported recently.

 

Unite members voted by 60 per cent for strike action and 73 per cent for action short of a strike over the dismissal of the first steward and the suspended second steward, since sacked.

 

Smurfit Kappa is one of the leading providers of paper-based packaging in the world, with about 42,000 employees across 32 countries.