Jiffy packaging workers in Cheshire to strike over pay and conditions

Workers unhappy with “paltry” pay offer and poor conditions on offer from employer

Over 50 workers at the Jiffy packaging plant in Winsford, Cheshire, are to strike next month following a pay offer from their employer that Unite general secretary Sharon Graham described as “paltry”.

Workers at the plant have been offered a mere 1.5 per cent pay increase despite a cost of living crisis and real rate of inflation (RPI) standing at 4.3 per cent, when the pay increase was due. Workers are therefore receiving a real-terms pay cut. 

Unite’s members are demanding an eight per cent pay increase backdated to the 1 April 2024. Additionally, workers are furious that they only receive eight weeks of sick pay and want to see an increase to 12 weeks alongside the reinstatement of breaks during the working day and changes to bank holiday working practices. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 

“This is a paltry pay offer from a packaging company that could stuff envelopes full of cash with the profits it’s making. Yet it’s choosing to give its workers a raw deal instead of rewarding and valuing their hard work. Unite will be backing our members every step of the way in this dispute.” 

The workers will walk out for nearly two weeks beginning on 1 July and continuing until 13 July. Jiffy Packaging is synonymous with padded envelopes and other packaging materials. The company made nearly £6 million in gross profits according to their last accounts so can easily afford to make a decent pay offer to their employees. 

In addition to the strike action taking place staff are refusing to work any overtime from 1 July until the dispute is resolved. 

Unite regional officer Gary Fairclough said: 

“Our members are rightly furious at this insult of a pay offer coupled with terrible sick pay, the removal of break times and a host of other condition that paints Jiffy as an employer that simply doesn’t value its staff. It will see the anger of our members first hand on the picket line outside its factory next month.”