The action was backed by almost 90% of Usdaw members at the site after BCM Fareva proposed slashing members’ terms and conditions, including sick pay and redundancy payment provisions, while threatening to ‘fire and rehire’ staff if agreement cannot be reached on the proposed changes.
 
Daniel Adams - Usdaw National Officer says: “Fire and rehire has been condemned by politicians from across the political divide. Even the current Prime Minister has said that it is ‘unacceptable as a negotiating tactic’. So we very much welcome the messages of support from local Labour MPs and urge the company to withdraw their threat to fire and rehire.”
 
Alex Norris MP (Labour, Nottingham North) says: “I stand in solidarity with Usdaw members at BCM Fareva. They have worked hard over the last three decades to make the company what it is. They have been key workers during this pandemic, meaning both BCM Fareva and Boots more generally have been able to function during these challenging times.
 
“Their reward for this has been an attack on terms and conditions, including sick pay and redundancy. Usdaw has negotiated in good faith to resolve this situation but to add insult to injury BCM Fareva are planning to use fire and rehire tactics to force this on staff. This is unacceptable and I fully support the difficult decision taken to strike. Management should return to the table to negotiate.”
 
Lilian Greenwood MP (Labour, Nottingham South) says: “I send my solidarity and support to the Usdaw members taking action at the BCM Fareva manufacturing site in Nottingham. It’s outrageous that this employer is trying to slash terms and conditions and using completely unacceptable bullying tactics to try to push these changes through.
 
“I’ll be working with Usdaw, the TUC and my Labour colleagues to ban these shameful ‘fire and rehire’ tactics by employers. I hope BCM Fareva listen to the strength of feeling, withdraw their threats and get back round the table with Usdaw.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 400,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion