No to fire and rehire

Oscar Mayer, one of Britain’s major ready meal manufacturers, wants to fire and rehire over 500 workers at its Wrexham factory, in order to reduce their wages by up to £3,000 a year. In response, the workers began a 4-week strike in September, extended in the face of refusals to negotiate.

Before the strike began, their trade union, Unite, reminded the employment agency which regularly supplies temporary staff to the firm that it is already unlawful to provide labour to replace striking workers.

Agency staff

Despite this, the agency has sent text messages to people who had previously applied for work at the factory, saying that work was available. Oscar Mayer is using agency staff to try and force through plans to cut breaks, and end enhanced pay and days off in lieu for bank holiday working.

The company is threatening the workers with dismissal without redundancy pay or compensation if they refuse to concede to the new terms by signing new contracts.

No qualms

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “It is no surprise that Oscar Mayer, which is happy to use fire and rehire against its workforce, would be working with an employment agency that appears to have no qualms about disregarding legislation preventing strike breaking ...The only way this dispute will end is if fire and rehire is taken off the table.”

The Labour government claims it is committed to upholding workers’ rights. Yet its much-heralded Employment Rights Bill fails to put an end to “fire and rehire”. Oscar Mayer workers may ask why it is not even upholding existing laws against an unscrupulous employer.