Some of our friends work at Bakkavor in Park Royal and some of them face redundancies. Tesco has dropped the potato mash contract! If you have any current info about the situation or about working at Bakkavor in general, let us know!
i used to work at bakkavor - i don’t know anything about the mash but i do know that it will be difficult for people to work for worse pay and conditions. it is already so bad! permanents were getting £6.79 and agency workers were getting minimum wage (£6.70). If they reduce the hours from 40 hours a week to 38 hours, i dont know whether it will be worth going to work! People have to work long hours to make it worthwhile. Lots of people had worked there a long time though and they are all in the GMB union- but people I spoke to said that the GMB never did anything for them so i am not hopeful that they will lead the workers against the company. The workers will have to do it themselves, they are a close bunch and good workers so they have some power. Also the assembly lines were going faster and faster - over the years it had sped up twice as fast! and the GMB hadnt done anything about that. it made me feel dizzy watching all those ready-meals going along the conveyor belt. it is not a job for human beings!
thanks, molly.
we distributed following leaflet at cumberland. some firstcall temps said that bakkavor still hires many people, so that’s kinda strange if they announce job cuts at the same time!
NO TO JOB CUTS! NO TO PAY CUTS! WHY SHOULD WORKERS PAY FOR THE SUPERMARKET PRICE WAR?
The big supermarkets are in the middle of a price war. Tesco has been knocked off the top spot and is now struggling against Aldi and Lidl. They are cutting their workers’ pay and ‘simplifying’ their product range, meaning NO MORE MASH for Bakkavor! And Asda had bad Christmas sales so they are sacking 1000 people in their stores and cut free tea and toast in the mornings.
At Bakkavor, the news is that some people will have to move to the houmous line, that agency workers will lose their jobs and that hours are being cut from 40 to 38 hours. Why should workers suffer a pay cut?! Lots of workers have worked here a long time - 5, 10, 15 years. What thanks do they get? They are good workers, and they already pay the lowest possible amount!
Don’t be fooled: Bakkavor, Tesco and Asda have lots of money. Bakkavor announced £30 million profit in November 2015. Tesco announced half yearly profit of £354 million. Asda had £380 million annual profit last year. They try and cut workers pay and jobs because they think we will accept it.
Asda and Bakkavor (Cumberland Avenue) are close to each other in Park Royal and you face a similar attack. Workers should come together to discuss what can be done! If you decide to refuse to bow to the blackmailing we are sure that there will be many people here in West- London to support you!
Let us know what you think - We are a group of local workers fed up with being pushed around.
You can post anonymous messages on this West London workers forum: https://forums.netzwerkit.de/c/workerswildwest

Or email us at: angryworkersworld@gmail.com
Minimum wage has now gone up - no thanks to GMB union! So we now get £7.20 for day shift. Some people have left or take redundancy but i think the money is too low. GMB says that new houmous shift will not be less money but they are still discussing with managers still. We got leaflet in the morning shift says that lidl workers get £9.40. if we make the food, why dont we get that much? i think people here are scared because their english is bad and maybe they wont find other job