Hull workers at chemical giant Croda Europe Ltd will take industrial action, including strike action, over years of missing holiday pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 22 December). 

Around 90 Croda workers, who are members of Unite, were balloted for strike action in November over the company’s failure to incorporate holiday entitlement into their shift rotas at its Oak Road site.

In a ballot with an 80 per cent turnout, nearly 90 per cent voted in favour of industrial action, which will take place in January.

Shift workers at the factory have suffered miscalculations in their annual leave for as long as 21 years, with long serving staff owed thousands of pounds in holiday back pay.

The Oak Road factory is the only one of the firm’s sites where holiday pay is excluded from annual working hour calculations for shift rotas.

Croda has previously acknowledged the mistake and in February 2020 offered to settle with the affected staff. The proposed settlement did not reflect adequate compensation for the amount of holiday pay lost, however, and Unite’s membership rejected the offer.

Unite members will take part in a continuous ban on overtime commencing at 20:45 hrs on 11 January 2021. 

In addition, two 24-hour discontinuous strikes will commence at 20:45 hrs on 18 January 2021 and 20:45 hrs on 25 January 2021. 

Unite regional officer Mick Simpson said: “Croda know they are in the wrong over the issue of missing holiday pay and have acknowledged as such. There is still a window of opportunity to prevent industrial action from occurring. 

"Our members would much prefer to avoid disruption to the company, but they have been pushed to this point by Croda’s refusal to properly compensate them for years of holiday back pay that is rightfully theirs. 

“Unite now urges Croda’s management to meet with its representatives as a matter of urgency to discuss any improved proposals that could resolve this dispute.”

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Hull Croda strike ballot opens for workers at ‘end of tether over years of missing holiday pay’

During the coronavirus crisis Unite is working to keep workers and the public safe, to defend jobs and to protect incomes.

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Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.