As Weetabix workers get thrown to the fire and rehire wolves, Unite members stand resolute in the bid to win job justice

Generation upon generation of children up and down the land have been brought up on Weetabix – waking every morning to find the original wholefood snack, served up on the kitchen table – with a choice of either hot or cold milk.

But around 80 engineering workers in Kettering and Corby, employed by the UK’s favourite breakfast cereal, are currently facing a completely different choice – as they face changes to their shift and working patterns that would mean some losing as much as £5,000 from their annual earnings.

The twin evils of fire and rehire have now found their abhorrent way to afflict Weetabix workers – and Unite is not prepared to give them house room.

“Weetabix believes it can steamroller over a loyal and hardworking staff into accepting worse wages, pensions and conditions by threatening them with the sack,” said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.

“Weetabix’s management must be learning this kind of ‘take it or leave it’ industrial relations from their American owners. Unite won’t accept that.”

Is the reason for these slashed wages and conditions because Weetabix has made a loss, you may ask? Not a bit of it – Weetabix has performed very strongly since the beginning of the pandemic. In 2020, its turnover grew by 5 per cent to £325m profits leapt by almost 20 per cent to £82m

Strikes continue and increase

The strikes have continued and are still ongoing. But on November 1 Unite announced upping the number of strike days from two days a week to four, from November 8.

Increasing the strike action, which has already closed production lines and put orders several days behind schedule, will cause further disruption to Weetabix’s operations.

“Weetabix is making bumper profits so there is no justification for these ‘fire and rehire’ attacks on our members’ wages and conditions,” said Sharon. “They are just not swallowing what in reality is a serving of corporate greed.

“Unite will not accept attacks on our members jobs, pay and conditions and Weetabix should expect this dispute to continue escalating until fire and rehire is dropped,” she added.

But Unite is not just protesting outside the factory gates. As well as industrial action, protests at supermarkets across the UK are also being held to raise awareness of how Weetabix are treating loyal staff.

Unite said the protests are necessary because shoppers will want to know that “Weetabix has tainted its good name by attacking our members’ living standards while raking in massive profits,” as Sean Kettle, Unite regional officer said.

“Our members’ determination to fend off these unjustified pay grabs is rock solid, and Weetabix’s reputation will continue to be damaged until it withdraws them,” he added.

And that recent polling shows the public are with our members. Seventy per cent of people disagree with fire and rehire, a practice which leaves an especially bad taste in the mouth when its conducted by a company that bills itself as the ‘nations’ favourite’.

Maybe the seemingly endless run of success for the self-styled ‘nation’s favourite cereal’ is about to come to a sad end – killed off by its’ own greed and appalling treatment of workers. Weetabix has indeed become a ‘cereal killer’ and by holding its’ workers in such contempt could well have bitten off more than it can chew.