It is reported that a fall in sales has forced Prescot cooker manufacturer Glen Dimplex Home Appliances to cancel the third instalment of a three-year pay deal, leading to industrial action at the Stoney Lane site.
Almost half the 800-strong workforce belong to the Community Union and have voted 74% in favour of strike action and 83% in favour of action short of a strike.
Action short of a strike includes an overtime ban and all departments finishing two hours early each day for the next three weeks.
The factory has also been picketed on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Union branch secretary Lynda Bruce, who has worked with the firm for more than 14 years, said: “Glen Dimplex has reneged on a pay deal which should have been put in place in April, 2009.
“Talks have been going on since last April, and the company has now said it can’t afford it.
“But there is overtime available for anyone who wants to do it.”
She said the firm has refused to negotiate while action takes place and added: “Members are wound up and are going ahead with the action. The ball is in the company’s court.
“We have told them we are prepared to talk. Even if they don’t offer the 2.5%, we are prepared to listen to any other reasonable offer as long as it is backdated.”
A company spokesperson said: “The action is over a deferred annual wage review, a measure we felt necessary in order to safeguard jobs in the current unstable economic climate.”
