{"id":19906,"date":"2020-01-31T15:33:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T15:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=19906"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:54:32","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:54:32","slug":"unilever-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=19906","title":{"rendered":"Unilever concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Serious questions need to be asked about Unilever\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future business strategy and its implications for jobs, following recent announcements by the consumer goods giant that it is considering dumping two of its UK businesses as well as evaluating the future of a number of others.<\/p>\n

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Unite today (Friday 31 January) urged Unilever<\/a>, which made net global profits of more than \u00c2\u01415 billion in 2019, not to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsacrifice profitable and sustainable businesses for the sake of short term returns\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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Unilever yesterday announced it is reviewing its global tea division, which accounted for \u00c2\u01412.5 billion in sales last year and includes the PG Tips brand in the UK.<\/p>\n

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The company has also said it is considering closing a washing powder factory in Warrington, where the Surf and Persil brands are produced.<\/p>\n

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The announcements follow comments by Unilever chief executive Alan Jope that a number of Unilever brands may be a risk as it pursues greater growth.<\/p>\n

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Unite has more than 150 members at a PG Tips factory in Manchester, around 40 at the Warrington washing powder factory and represents more than 1,500 workers across Unilever as a whole.<\/p>\n

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Unite national officer Rhys McCarthy said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnilever\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s direction of travel is concerning, particularly in light of its recent announcements and chief executive Alan Jope\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s comments casting doubt on the future of a number of the firm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s brands.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt makes no sense to throw away businesses that still make considerable profits and have a long term future simply because they are not growing fast enough. Unilever staff across the country will of course be concerned that their jobs could be needlessly put at risk in an effort to hastily increase dividends.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite will not sit back and allow Unilever to throw good jobs away just to satisfy the demands of the market. It is in nobody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interests except the speculators for Unilever to sacrifice profitable and sustainable businesses for the sake of short term returns.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Commenting on how Unilever\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans for its global tea businesses could affect workers at the multinational\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s PG Tips factory in Manchester, Unite regional officer Jimmy Carter said there must be a full consultation before any decision is made.<\/p>\n

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He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe urge Unilever not to sell what are still very popular and profitable brands. If a sale is decided upon, Unilever must only consider bids from reputable buyers who have long term and sustainable plans for the business.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhatever happens, Unite will fight to ensure our members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs and terms and conditions are not put in the firing line during this process.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Andrew Johnson is the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regional officer for Unilever\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Warrington factory.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe urge Unilever to fully consider all possible alternatives to shutting the site. If job losses do go ahead, Unilever must ensure that any redundancies are voluntary and staff are offered other opportunities that may exist within the group.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serious questions need to be asked about Unilever\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future business strategy and its implications for jobs, following recent announcements by the consumer goods giant that it is considering dumping two of its UK businesses as well as evaluating the future of a number of others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[687],"wps_subtitle":"Unilever brand cuts threat \u00e2\u20ac\u0098concerning\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, says Unite","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19906"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19906"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24738,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19906\/revisions\/24738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}