Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, dressed as Robin Hood, will be holding a series of protests outside of Birmingham NEC this week.

When: Tuesday 24 January and Wednesday 25 January 08:30 -10:00

Where: Furniture Show, Halls 1-5 (The Plaza), National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, B40 1NT.

Protest

The protest will coincide with the Furniture Show which is being held at the NEC where Logistics Group Holding Ltd has a stand. Logistics Group Holding is the parent company of a number of delivery companies including Arrow XL and Yodel.

Over 350 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed at Arrow XL, have been involved in industrial action since October. The workers are currently preparing to be re-balloted to secure a fresh mandate for strike action. The workers are poorly paid, with many only receiving the minimum wage and other workers paid barely above £9.50 an hour.

Guilty

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Arrow XL is guilty of acting as Robin Hood in reverse: It is taking money from its poorly paid workers to give to vastly wealthy directors.

“Arrow XL needs to stop mistreating its workers and make a fair pay offer. Until Arrow XL treats its workers fairly, Unite will continue to expose its practices at every opportunity.”

Wealthy company

Logistics Group Holdings Ltd, is owned by Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay Family Settlements. Arrow XL is highly profitable and despite not being prepared to pay its workers a decent salary, this does not apply to the company’s directors. Arrow XL’s highest paid director in 2021 was paid £539,000, an 84 per cent increase in just a year.

Companies that employ Arrow XL for the two person delivery service it provides include: Marks and Spencer, Amazon, Very Group, LG Electronics, Richer Sounds and Buy it Direct.

Despite the real inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 13.4 per cent, Arrow XL has only been prepared to offer the workers a five per cent pay increase, which is a sizable real terms pay cut.

Disruption expected

Unite national officer Adrian Jones said: “Our members at Arrow XL are currently being re-balloted for industrial action after previously taking considerable strike action which has caused huge disruption to Arrow XL’s deliveries.

“Fresh strike action will cause further disruption but this dispute is entirely of Arrow XL’s own making, it has had numerous opportunities to make a fair pay offer and has failed to do so. It needs to return to the negotiating table and make a fair pay offer.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

For media enquiries ONLY please contact Unite senior communications officer Barckley Sumner on 07802 329235 or 0203 371 2067.

Email: [email protected]

Unite is the UK and Ireland’s leading union fighting to protect and advance jobs, pay and conditions for members working across all sectors of the economy. The ge