Revulsion over poverty pay

Unite is set to ballot more than 3,000 members across Northern Ireland working in factories owned by poultry giant Moy Park.

Management’s refusal to offer any pay increase has caused revulsion across the workforce, which has prompted the ballot for all-out strike action over poverty pay.

 
Unite regional officer with responsibility for Moy Park, Sean McKeever, has confirmed that Unite will be proceeding to ballot its membership on industrial action following the refusal of management to address the issue of poverty pay.

 
“Marfrig, the Brazilian company which owns Moy Park, boasts that profits from its Northern Ireland operations were £34 million in the last reported accounting period,” he said. “Yet despite this profitability and the huge bonuses enjoyed by senior management, workers at the company’s factories across Northern Ireland continue to subsist on poverty wages.

“Our members work long-hours in a demanding and difficult working environment yet they are expected to live on pay just marginally higher than the minimum wage,” he added.

“Coming on the back of years of inadequate pay increments, Unite has sought a significant increase to wages but in response management has point-blank refused to countenance any pay increase whatsoever,” McKeever went on to say.

“We now have no alternative but to ballot our members across all factories on all-out industrial action to demand fair pay.”