Bridgwater TUC calls for 'Solidarity Hour' with striking Argos workers

The 3 -week strike of 280 Unite members at the Huntworth ARGOS warehouse is still on, after ACAS talks broke up on Thursday without agreement.

Bridgwater Trades Union Council is asking all local trades unionists to show their solidarity over the next few days by:

1. Helping give out the Unite strike leaflet   

2. Helping give out the Bridgwater TUC solidarity leaflet  

3. Turn up for the Unite ARGOS strike picket SOLIDARITY HOUR on Tuesday 29th August from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, please bring your branch banner and/or union flags.

4. Send me a message of support/solidarity to the Bridgwater Unite ARGOS strikers, which I can pass onto Andy Gill and Rob Dibble on the picket line.

If you want to try and make one of these solidarity events contact Dave Chapple, 07707 869 144

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Unite strike leaflet:

ARGOS STRIKE ACTION

 

 

WHY ARE WE ON STRIKE?

 

A number of months ago, Argos announced that it was transferring out its site at Magna Park to a third party contractor Wincanton it then subsequently announced it was shutting the site at Magna and transferring the work to Kettering nearly 30 miles away.

 

This meant a loyal workforce was expected to absorb these changes and travel to Kettering.

 

We approached Argos and ask for guarantees relating to maintaining any transferred site with a direct link to Argos. We also wanted to agree a relocation and Redundancy/Severance package in the event of transfer. We also requested that the Argos site at Barton be allowed to join with other in-house sites for bargaining purposes.

 

We have failed to get sufficient guarantees from the company, hence this strike action.

 

Our claims have been called unreasonable by Argos!

 

• IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO ASK FOR A RELOCATION PACKAGE IF THE SITE YOU ARE WORKING AT IS SHUT AND WORK MOVED MILES AWAY

 

• IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO ASK FOR AGREED REDUNDANCY OR SEVERANCE TERMS IF LOYAL WORKERS CANNOT TRANSFER

 

• IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO MAINTAIN A LINK WITH THE ECONOMIC EMPLOYER ARGOS

 

• IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO ALLOW A DEMOCRATIC BALLOT TO TAKE PLACE FOR WORKERS TO DECIDE HOW THEIR TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE NEGOTIATED

 

 

IT IS ARGOS WHO ARE BEING UNREASONABLE, WE ARE LOOKING TO GET GUARANTEES ABOUT OUR FUTURES, ARGOS IS LOOKING TO ATTACK OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS IN THE FUTURE

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Bridgwater TUC solidarity leaflet:

ARGOS and SAINSBURY Stores at the Clink:

What shoppers need to know!

 

Local trades unionists from Bridgwater Trades Union Council are supporting 280 Unite the Union members, on strike for three weeks at the ARGOS Huntworth Distribution depot. The national strike of ARGOS depots is asking for guarantees on wages and conditions should any depot be closed and re-opened with a new third-party employer. This fact alone makes the dispute a vital one for local workers.

 

The ARGOS Distribution Director Phil Hull, in a letter to all employees, states there are no plans to outsource or move the Bridgwater depot. But in the next paragraph, the words “In the event of a relocation or site move “ are repeated no less than  four times! Bridgwater Trades Union Council believes that Unite members are justified in not trusting the future of the Huntworth site to senior ARGOS Managers.

 

However, how many shoppers at the Clink know that:

1.   ARGOS has now been bought by Sainsbury PLC?

2.   The Bridgwater ARGOS Store may be closed by February 2018?

3.    One plan is to re-locate ARGOS at the back of an expanded Sainsbury?

 

What Bridgwater shoppers may face is the loss of the ARGOS Brand altogether in the next few years, and, with that, the disappearance of a  unique way of shopping.

 

Bridgwater Trades Union Council calls upon Sainsbury PLC to:

1.   Come clean with its future plans for the ARGOS store and brand;

2.   Settle the national industrial dispute by giving Unite the Union the reasonable guarantees it seeks.

Dave Chapple Secretary of Bridgwater TUC said "Bridgwater TUC leafletted outside the ARGOS and sainsbury stores as well as the town centre because Sainsbury now own ARGOS and therefore have the responsibility to force senior ARGOS managers to settle the strike on the terms being proposed by Unite the Union.Bridgwater TUC has called for a "SOLIDARITY HOUR" on Tuesday 30th August, 1.30pm to 2.30pm, at the Unite picket line at Huntworth, when it is hoped activists from all Unite the Union Somerset branches, as well as activists from all other unions and trades union councils, will gather to show solidarity with the longest single continuous strike seen in Somerset for decades.Please bring your union banners and flags!"