Action follows rejection of pay cut 

Unite members at Co-op Funeralcare based at Bogmoor Place, Glasgow, are set to take strike action following the rejection of a real terms pay cut.

Around 50 craft workers based at the Co-op’s only coffin manufacturing facility in the UK overwhelmingly rejected a real-terms pay cut and served notice of strike action. 

The offer on the table from the Co-op is less than half that of the current real rate of living cost, which is 12.3 per cent.

The strike action will commence 31 October and it will continue each day until 7 November when the action will conclude. 

 Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The Co-op trades on being different to bad employers; it should not be proposing a real-terms pay cut for their Funeralcare workers, especially when they can well afford to pay fairly.

"We will fully support our Co-op members in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”  

Strike action will bring production at the factory to a complete stop. Unite members previously voted for strike action by 96 per cent on an 86 per cent turnout in August.  

Co-op Funeralcare made an underlying profit of £12 million in 2021.

Willie Thomson, Unite industrial officer, added: “Co-op Funeralcare have left our members with no option but to take strike action as they have failed to table an acceptable wage offer. We have given negotiations every opportunity to resolve this dispute but the Co-op are failing to recognise the cost of living crisis. Unite’s members are sending a clear message by taking strike action that the wage offer is unacceptable, and they are determined to fight for a better wage deal.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

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Unite Scotland is the country’s biggest and most diverse trade union with around 150,000 members. The union is led in Scotland by Pat Rafferty.