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Snooker textiles firm staff strike over pay

Duncan Cook,Gloucestershireand
Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley,West of England
News imageBBC A group of workers waving red Unite UNION flags on the roadside. They are all wearing dark clothes and dressed for the cold weather. One person can be seen using a whistle and another person is holding a brass horn.BBC
About 50 staff members from WSP Textiles have started nine days of strike action

Workers who make cloth coatings for snooker tables and tennis balls used worldwide are taking strike action for the first time ever over their pay.

More than 50 people at WSP Textiles in Stroud and Dursley began the nine-day strike earlier after rejecting a pay rise offer of 2.35%.

The action was called by the Unite union, which said the firm's production line staff earned less than £13 an hour while the company's highest-paid director earns in the region of £100,000 a year.

WSP Textiles said its offer reflected "tough trading conditions".

The firm's chief executive Duncan Kettell said the company had a good record on pay.

"Our offer reflects challenging business conditions at the moment and what we can afford," he added.

News imageThe outside of the Cam Mills building where WSP Textiles works operates from. There is a black fence in the foreground with parked cars in front of it.The building is red brick with sand stone around its windows.
The firm operates out of its Cam Mills building in Dursley (pictured) and Lodgemore Mills in Stroud

Kettell said he wrote to all of the firm's employees in early-December outlining the reasons for its pay offer and confirming its board would work with the union to try to resolve the issue.

"As far as I can remember, strike action here at WSP Textiles is a first, but I've made it clear that the door remains open should the union bring a new proposal to the table," he said.

Regional officer for the Unite union Mike Hobbs said the organisation was a profitable company and said the offer was "nowhere near an inflationary pay rise".

News imageMike Hobbs, who has grey hair, is wearing dark-rimmed glasses, a scarf and an open jacket with a red lanyard. He is looking into the camera and striking staff can be seen in the background.
Unite union's regional officer Mike Hobbs said the company's pay offer was not good enough

Hobbs said the offer was "not good enough" for a company which "had a turnover of about £23m and in 2024 returned a £1.4m profit after tax".

"They're not short. All we ask for is a fair increase," he added.

He said the union had asked the company to continue negotiations, but said it had so far "refused to move on the pay offer".

Unite warned major tennis and snooker tournaments around the world would be affected should the strike continue throughout winter and spring.

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