GMB member’s long running strike at Matalan was called off today after they accepted a new, improved pay deal.
More than 500 workers at Matalan’s Northern Distribution Centre based in Knowsley, Merseyside, had been on strike after management made a pay offer which amounted to a real terms pay cut.
The industrial action has been going on since August, with some strikers erecting tents outside the warehouse.
As a bitter pay dispute rages on, workers say they are having to choose between heating their homes and eatinghttps://t.co/3SCGeA0iZw
— Liverpool Echo (@LivEchonews) October 20, 2019
The strikes were suspended on Friday after Matalan bosses made a new pay offer. Members voted on the offer over the weekend and it was today announced 87% accepted the new deal.
The final deal is complex and differs across the shifts but the vast majority of GMB members received a 1.7% mandatory minimum wage uplift with an additional negotiated 2.9% increase added on top.
The deal included an assurance that this future pay deals will always be backdated to the pay anniversary date, which was one of the fundamental issues of the industrial action.
Supporting our striking @GMB members at Matalan in Liverpool. Solidarity Comrades ✊️@PaulMaccaGMB @Rossaholden @gmbnwi @Tim_Roache pic.twitter.com/UEBHtZnk7v
— Neil Holden (@Neilh1965fc) September 9, 2019
Neil Holden, GMB Senior Organiser, said:
“This has been an incredibly stressful time for our members. They’ve been on strike for weeks, worrying about how they will feed their families and pay their rent.
“They sacrificed their wages - which were only just above the minimum wage - to do what’s right for them and their colleagues.
“But because they’ve stuck together, and shown solidarity, they can rightly hold their heads high today.
“Now they can get back to work and, along with Matalan, put this behind them,”
