'I definitely didn’t think it would last this long': Inside the UK's longest current strike and what's it like being on the picket line for 19 weeks
manchestereveningnews.co.ukWhen workers at pallet company CHEP UK’s Trafford warehouse decided to take strike action over a pay dispute back in December last year, many expected it to only last a couple of weeks.
But now, halfway into April, the 65-strong workers are still striking. 19 weeks in, the strikers say they are more resilient than ever and the long days at the picket line have only strengthened their initial reasons for taking industrial action.
In December, workers at the Trafford Park base said bosses at CHEP, which repairs and supplies pallets for supporting and transporting goods to companies such as Heinz, Coca-Cola and Heineken, were refusing to improve on a ‘below inflation pay offer’ despite the industry allegedly booming in demand. READ MORE: Manchester United start plans to expand and modernise Old Trafford Staff are asking for a five per cent pay offer, which they say would still leave them working on a ‘pay cut’ with inflation rate and rising costs considered.
Last month, the company's pay offer of two per cent was rejected by strikers. The striking members are being represented by the Unite trade union, and the action is now considered to be the union’s longest-running strike in its 15-year history.
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