{"id":11577,"date":"2017-02-24T15:43:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T15:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11577"},"modified":"2017-02-24T15:43:45","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T15:43:45","slug":"hidden-cuts-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11577","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Hidden cuts\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Argos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plans to transfer nearly 500 workers from its Lutterworth distribution hub in Leicestershire to Kettering, Northamptonshire are widening out to become a countrywide dispute.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite is angry that Argos has failed to give guarantees at all its logistic sites that workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 terms and conditions will be safeguarded in the future. The union estimates that about 1,400 of its members could be affected.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The union said it is worried about the intentions of Argos, now owned by supermarket giant Sainbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, and is considering the possibility of an industrial action ballot in protest.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Besides the Magna Park depot in Lutterworth, Argos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 other sites are at Barton (Burton-on-Trent), Basildon in Essex, Bridgwater in Somerset, Castleford (West Yorkshire) and Heywood (Greater Manchester).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On Monday (February 27), representatives from the sites will be staging a lobby outside Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s headquarters at 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT at 1.30pm.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The dispute was sparked last month by the decision to TUPE &#8211; Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations &#8211; more than 400 Unite members at Lutterworth to Wincanton Logistics in Kettering from March 13.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat we are faced with is the thin end of the wedge,&#8221; said Unite national officer for road transport and retail distribution Matt Draper. &#8220;We suspect that the new owner, Sainbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s is pulling the strings here \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and that the not-so-hidden agenda is serious cost-cutting to the detriment of our members.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEmployees at Magna Park will be forced to transfer to Wincanton or be offered alternative employment on potentially inferior terms, if they are unable or unwilling to travel to the new site which is 25 miles away in Northamptonshire,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAll Argos sites, including Magna Park, have asked the company for guarantees about terms and conditions going forward and the ability to take voluntary redundancy, if a site moves and a member cannot or does not want to transfer.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe management has refused to give these reasonable guarantees \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and hence the protest on Monday,&#8221; Draper explained. &#8220;We are also looking at the possibility of an industrial action ballot.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bArgos has refused to allow an independent company to analyse the business case, which has further fuelled suspicions about the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentions. We will strongly oppose any attempt at \u00e2\u20ac\u0098a race to the bottom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 when it comes to pay and conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is an attack on the collective bargaining arrangements and a way of undermining wages and maximising profits at the expense of workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 wages,&#8221; he went on to say.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are looking at widening this dispute to include other Argos directly-employed workers across all it sites, including those who fall under the current national agreement and those that do not i.e. at Barton.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The lease at Magna Park is due to end this year and Argos has decided it does not wish to renew it. The total workforce \u00e2\u20ac\u201c up to 500 workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be affected.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Argos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 plans to transfer nearly 500 workers from its Lutterworth distribution hub in Leicestershire to Kettering, Northamptonshire are widening out to become a countrywide dispute. &nbsp; Unite is angry that Argos has failed to give guarantees at all its logistic sites that workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 terms and conditions will be safeguarded in the future. The union estimates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[663,522],"wps_subtitle":"Unite members protest Argos' plans","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11577"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11578,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11577\/revisions\/11578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}