UK Coca-Cola workers begin strike

Workers at a Coca-Cola plant began a forty eight hour strike today after rejecting a pay offer.

Union officials have warned the walkout, at the firm’s biggest UK bottling and distribution centre, will have a “devastating effect” on supplies.

About 100 workers based at the site in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, took to the picket line with banners, including one which read: “Strike – it’s the real thing.”

The site also produces other soft drinks including Oasis and Dr Pepper and supplies shops, supermarkets, vending machines and pubs across the UK.

Unite said it was furious that management offered to improve the 2.5% offer by asking workers to sacrifice overtime rates and bonuses.

Technician Steven Tattersall, aged 38, from Barnsley, said he has worked at the site for 13 years.

He said: “The technicians are just fed up of taking lower than inflation raises.

“A lot of these guys have been here since the site opened in 1989.

“They have a lot of pride in their jobs and the company, but the attitude of the company is changing the attitude of the workers here.

“They are frustrated with the management for making them feel that way.

“A lot of staff feel as if they are not valued any more.

“People’s standards of living have dropped.”

Darren Stead, aged 30, a technician operative who has worked at the site for five years, said: “We are not asking for much, we are just asking for the going rate to keep our heads up.

“This is a last resort being here.

“We love what we do, we just feel it has been a bit of a kick in the teeth what we have been offered.”

Workers at another Coca-Cola site, in Milton Keynes, will strike for 24 hours tomorrow as part of the same dispute.