Tesco Christmas shortages threatened in Scotland as delivery drivers strike goes ahead

Members of both Unite and Usdaw have voted in favour of strike action.

The workers including warehouse workers and HGV drivers are based at Tesco’s Livingston distribution depot, the supermarket chain's biggest in Europe, which provides stock to all Tesco Stores across Scotland.

The strike action is a result of what Unite say is Tesco’s "derisory" four percent pay offer which they say is well below the current retail price index (RPI) inflation rate of six per cent.

Tesco said it was "disappointed" by the decision and that contingency plans were in place.

READ MORE: Tesco face legal action over 'unlawful' threat to fire staff over Christmas delivery strike

Staff belonging to the Unite union will walk out on May 20 and will not return before Christmas.

The Livingston distribution centre opened in May, 2008, serves all Tesco stores across Scotland and Northern Ireland and employs nearly 2000 people.

The union says the workforce is "particularly angry" that Tesco is offering a real terms pay cut while the supermarket giant is projecting an operating profit of £2.6 billion for the current financial year.

Unite’s members at Tesco depots based in Antrim, Belfast, Didcot and Doncaster are also set to take strike action in the coming weeks as part of the nationwide pay dispute.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Tesco is a multi-billion pounds profitable company built on the back of our members. We are talking about the UK’s largest and wealthiest retailer, and the best they offer their workers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty during the pandemic is a real-terms pay cut. Unite always prioritises the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and it will be giving its full support to our members based in Livingston until this dispute is resolved.”

It comes after an other union accused Tesco of acting "unlawfully" by threatening to fire staff and cut pay over a strike which it is feared will mean it will struggle to fulfil its Christmas deliveries.

Usdaw threatened to start a strike from December 20 at distribution centres including its biggest depot in Livingston - just as Christmas online orders are due to be shipped out.

But Scots workers at what is Tesco's largest distribution centre in Europe have raised concern that managers have sent threats to their jobs as well as withdraw strike pay and bonuses as staff are balloted over industrial action.

The UK's fifth biggest union Usdaw, which represents 400,000 workers in the retail sector, as well as people employed in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades, have been taking legal advice over Tesco's threat to pay and jobs.

The union has told Tesco they believe the action is "unlawful" and have told the supermarket giant: "We reserve our members' legal rights on this matter."

Scots workers have received a letter from Andrew Woolfenden, the UK distribution and fulfilment director of Tesco issuing the warning after staff rejected an offer of a 4% increase on hourly pay rates.

He said that if strike action takes place and stock is not delivery in time to stores as a result "we put our business and the future of your site at risk".

He said that if they took part in strike action they will be in breach of their contract of employment and that they will not be paid for the entire shifts in which strike action is taken.

The letter states that if workers take part in strike action they may not be paid a colleague bonus for 2021. The average payment under the scheme was £801.

He warned they may also lose a warehouse market supplement of up to £500 and a driver market supplement of up to £800.

And he also warned that if strike continued for 12 weeks, "we may decided to terminate your employment with the company..."

He wrote: "You will lose more than you gain by taking strike action. Therefore if you are a union member and recieve a ballot paper, I would urge you to use your vote and vote 'no' to taking strike action."

Unite regional officer Willie Thomson said: “It’s time Tesco rewarded its exceptionally hard working and loyal workforce in distribution. The workers have kept us fed throughout this pandemic and after contributing to the exceptional profits of Tesco they fully deserve a significant pay rise. Tesco needs to put its customers and workforce first, settle this dispute or risk shortages over the festive period. Tesco says ‘This Christmas nothing is stopping us’ well with the full support of Unite nothing is going to stop our members in their fight for a fair wage deal.”

In February, Usdaw won a Court of Session court case stopping Tesco from moving staff at the Livingston distribution centre onto new contracts in what the union called a "fire and rehire" tactic.

The interim interdict from the Court of Session in Edinburgh meant that the supermarket at temporarily prohibited from unilaterally withdrawing an entitlement to 'retained pay' by terminating workers’ contracts and re-engaging them on new terms.

Usdaw claimed that the arrangement would have resulted in workers losing between £4,000 and £19,000 per year.

In April, Tesco announced a rise in sales but a sharp fall in full-year profits after spending nearly £900m to carry on trading through the Covid pandemic.

Tesco's full year pre-tax profit fell from £1bn to £825m.

Joanne McGuinness, Usdaw's national officer said: “Our members have sent a clear message, with this high turnout and strong support for industrial action. We hope that the company is listening and that they will return to the negotiating table with a better deal that is acceptable to our members.

“Retail distribution workers are key workers who delivered essential services throughout the pandemic, which in turn delivered a 16.5% increase in profit to Tesco for the first half of the year. These workers deserve a decent pay rise as their reward for what they have done and continue to do day in day out; couple that with the rising cost of living and inflation currently running at 6%, the company needs to do better.

“Industrial action and possible stock shortages in stores in the week before Christmas can be avoided. It needs the company to engage positively in talks with Usdaw and we stand ready to reopen negotiations.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “Our distribution colleagues have worked tirelessly through the pandemic in order to keep products moving for customers. The pay offer we have made is a fair recognition of this, and is one of the highest awards made within our distribution business in the last 25 years, building on our highly competitive pay and rewards package. 

"We welcome the decision by our colleagues at the sites who have voted against industrial action. We are disappointed that some have voted to proceed, and we have contingency plans in place to help mitigate any impacts. We have worked hard to deliver Christmas for our customers and are confident we will be able to fulfil our plans.”