‘Paltry’ pay offer

Workers at a Leeds printing plate firm are going on a 48-hour strike over a ‘paltry’ pay offer from Sunday morning (September 20).

 
About 50 Unite members at AGFA Graphics, Coal Road, Seacroft will strike from 7am on Sunday until 7am on Tuesday (September 22).

 
The company had offered a one-off non-consolidated payment for the pay year April 2015 to April 2016 and then a 0.5 per cent rise. Both offers were roundly rejected by the workers, who voted by a margin of 62 per cent for strike action.

 
“Our members don’t feel that the management has made any meaningful effort to engage in realistic pay talks, especially as the company is profitable,” Unite regional officer Chris Daly said. “The current pay offer is paltry.”

 
“Our members have seen their pay packets eroded in real terms as there has been a pay freeze for at least two years, while their German counterparts working for the same company have received three per cent this year,” he added.

 
“We would urge the firm to get around the table, under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas, for constructive talks to resolve this pay dispute.”

 
The company, which employs about 100 people at the plant, makes printing plates for industrial printers.