Striking Gillingham factory workers slam 'fire-and-hire' practices

KentOnline / KMTV

Unite, the trade union representing the strikers say the employer, Phina, has reportedly been using 'fire and rehire' tactics to force through the changes.

Transcript

00:00 Another day at the Finia factory in Gillingham, another picket line.

00:05 60 workers have been striking on and off for weeks in a dispute over having their paid

00:10 lunch break removed.

00:12 The half an hour lunch break had been negotiated between management and unions back in 2004.

00:20 Union representatives say Finia are forcing through these changes by threatening to end

00:25 workers' current employment contracts with an offer of new jobs under different terms,

00:30 a practice that is known as fire and rehire.

00:34 I'm here outside the Finia factory in Gillingham.

00:37 As you can see, dozens of workers gathered here on the last day of strike action.

00:42 They've been striking since January over fire and rehire practices and they say they are

00:47 disappointed by the lack of engagement from management here at Finia.

00:53 Vast unhappiness as you can see from the turnout and the strike action.

00:57 We've held firm with numbers all the way through, ever since the beginning.

01:02 And the strength of feeling I think is evident in the number of people that are out on the

01:05 picket line that they're not happy to have a paid lunch break removed that was negotiated

01:10 over 20 years ago as part of a pay deal.

01:11 You know, we've been more than fair.

01:13 We've offered to pause strike action if the company would offer to pause the fire and

01:16 rehire process to enable us to negotiate and they failed to do so.

01:20 And yes, it's disappointing, it's disappointing for the members, but ultimately they stand

01:24 firm in their decision as they have done since the very start.

01:27 No workers on the picket line chose to speak to me for fear of losing their jobs.

01:34 Finia says it has been following appropriate protocols for engaging with the union as well

01:40 as keeping employees informed along the process.

01:44 But many feel the conduct of the company has been unacceptable.

01:48 It's disgraceful actually that the management there feel that this is an appropriate thing

01:51 to do.

01:52 The workers at Finia have never been on strike before.

01:56 This is the first time they've ever done so.

01:59 And many of them have been working on that location for 25 years, 30 years, you know,

02:04 a very, very long time.

02:05 So this is a very unusual set of circumstances.

02:09 The company says that they have taken measures to minimise disruption caused by strike action

02:15 and there won't be any impact on customers.

02:19 Workers will now have until the beginning of April to sign up for new contracts or face

02:24 unemployment.

02:25 But for many who have worked at this factory for decades, the choice will be a painful

02:30 one.

02:31 Oliver Leeds of the Sacks reporting for KMTV.

Category

Transcript

Recommended