Daniel Adams – Usdaw National Officer says: “Ocado’s customer fulfilment centre in Andover yesterday suffered a large fire, which has obviously caused disruption to the business. Thankfully no one was injured and we appreciate the efforts of hundreds of firefighters who spent the night tackling the blaze.

“We have been talking to the company about the situation and the impact on employees at this incredibly uncertain time since yesterday. Initially the message to some employees at the site appears to have included the use of holiday and unpaid leave. Following discussions we are pleased that the company have now decided to pay employees for the hours they were rostered to work until further notice, regardless of previous communications.

“We will continue our dialogue with the company on the longer term implications and provide our members with the support, advice and representation they need at this difficult time.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with around 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. 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