Workers at Peterborough white goods maker Whirlpool to strike over pay rise offer of 'one penny an hour'

Workers at a leading manufacturer in Peterborough are to take strike action as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

Staff working in the parts factory at the Whirlpool premises in Morley Way, Woodston, are to go on strike for 22 days next month.

It comes after about 70 members of the Unite union recorded a 98 per cent vote in favour of strike action over a pay offer the union says amounts to one penny an hour.

Unite officials have described the offer as ‘Dickensian’.

They say that Whirlpool is now facing extensive disruption to its repairs service after workers at the Peterborough parts factory voted overwhelmingly for extensive strikes.

They will strike for an initial day on May 5.

This will then be followed by a 17 day strike from May 9 ending on May 26.

There will then be a further strike from May 30 ending on June 2.

The workers, who are responsible for supplying the company’s engineers with spare parts for repairs while also re-working machines that have been returned, currently receive the national minimum wage of £10.42 an hour.

Unite says the company is effectively only proposing to increase workers’ pay by a penny so that they receive £10.43 an hour.

In a statement the union has said: “Whirlpool offered its workers a pay increase of five per cent backdated to October 2022, a real terms pay cut.

"That offer was overtaken by the national minimum wage increase which came into effect on April 1.

"With no further offer being made, the company is now effectively offering a one pence pay increase.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham added: “You could not make this up.

"This is a company counting its likely profits at nearly $20 billion and it has the gall to offer its UK workers a penny rise.

"This is astonishing by any standard. It beats the tales from Charles Dickens.

“Not only does Whirlpool think that its highly dedicated and skilled workforce are only worth the national minimum wage, but now it’s adding insult to injury with this preposterous offer.

“Unite has got a laser-like focus on the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workers at Whirlpool will receive the union’s unswerving support.”

Unite regional officer Mark Plumb said: “Strike action is set to put Whirlpool’s repairs service into a spin, but this dispute is completely of the company’s own making.

"It has had every opportunity to resolve this dispute but it has failed to do so.”

The American based company employs more than 1,200 people in Peterborough. It recently reported that its full year profits are expected to be $19.4 billion.

A company spokesman said there would not be any response from the company while talks with the union were ongoing.

Last year, bosses defended their pay offer saying the proposed pay package was competitive and sustainable in the current business environment.