 Workers at five Morrisons depots have voted to strike |
A planned strike at supermarket chain Morrisons scheduled for this Friday has been suspended for seven days so that talks can continue. Negotiations started on Wednesday in an effort to avert industrial action. The talks will resume on Friday.
Thousands of staff at sites including Bristol, Warrington and Aylesford in Kent had threatened to walk out for three days starting on Friday.
The dispute centred on jobs, and union bargaining and consultation rights.
Operational review
Workers at Morrisons were linked to the GMB and Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU).
The unions also had been planning a second strike at the Morrisons depots, starting on 29 September and lasting for six days.
They claimed that the company, which has been struggling since buying rival Safeway for �3bn in 2003, was planning to close a number of depots and shed thousands of jobs.
Morrisons said that it was reviewing the depots.
The company has been battered by waning sales, allegations of boardroom clashes and a slump in its share price.
There have been signs of a revival, however, and the company has been selling off the Safeway stores it does not need and had to get rid of to meet competition requirements.
In all, Morrisons has sold over 180 stores since it acquired Safeway and the fear is that it now has more depot space and capacity than it needs.
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