No-go for Argos drivers after Christmas strike action ballot
ARGOS drivers are set to take industrial action near Burton on Trent over what unions are calling a failure to honour holiday back pay.
The action could see the delivery of Christmas gifts delayed.
The drivers work for Wincanton based at Argos’s flagship national distribution centre (NDC) at Barton-under-Needwood, near Burton on Trent, in Staffordshire will strike for three days from 00.01 on Tuesday 20 December.
The drivers voted by 83 per cent to strike and by 95 per cent for industrial action short of a strike over Wincanton’s failure to honour holiday back pay for at least the last two years. The Unite union says that each driver is owed an average of around £700.
Unite says the reason the Staffordshire site is so critical is that it supplies the other seven Argos NDCs across the UK which, in turn, deliver to the Argos shops – Unite said that a strike would have a knock-on effect causing “havoc and mayhem” to deliveries in the days running up to Christmas.
In a separate dispute, Wincanton drivers working at the Argos centre in Basildon in Essex are voting on whether to take industrial action over a disciplinary system relating to ‘uncontrolled vehicle movements’. This ballot result is due on Friday.
Unite regional officer Rick Coyle said: “The drivers have patiently tried to resolve this matter for over two years. Now they would like the money they are owed in time for Christmas, which is not unreasonable.
“It is very difficult to understand why Wincanton has allowed this saga to get out of hand because this strike by our members will cause havoc and mayhem to deliveries to Argos shops in the run-up to Christmas.
“There will be a lot of very unhappy Argos customers, if they don’t receive the iPhones, TVs and ‘white’ goods that they have ordered as presents for relatives this Christmas.
“We can assure Argos customers that strike dates are only being announced as a last resort and that Unite’s door is open 24/7 to try and settle this long-standing dispute.”
