Workers at a Tetley tea factory in north-east England have agreed to continue striking in a disagreement over pay.
Around 150 employees at the Tata Consumer Products-owned Tetley manufacturing site in Teesside have walked out today (4 October), according to a statement from the GMB union.
An additional strike is planned for 10 October.
Tetley workers voted in favour of a walkout last month amid claims of real-terms pay cuts. Staff downed their tools on 20 and 23 September.
In a statement issued today (4 October), GMB said the company had phoned the police during the previous industrial action, “claiming the predominantly women strikers were being ‘intimidating’”.
While GMB's statement indicated that Tata Consumer Products had decided to sue striking workers "for trespass", the India-headquartered company told Just Drinks that it had not sued its staff.
"Tata Consumer Products took steps to address the actions of the GMB by applying for an injunction related to trespass", a company spokesperson said.
"Subsequent to this, the court issued an Order of Undertakings to the GMB which provides ground rules of conduct regarding use of Tata Consumer Products land and behaviour of those taking strike action on strike days. These ground rules are enforceable by law."
GMB has since confirmed to Just Drinks that the company has not sued Tetley employees, and that an agreement had since been reached around the injunction.
Tata Consumer Products said that it had two payment offers on the table which had not yet been presented to workers. GMB said however that it was still waiting for the company to agree to talks.
"We are disappointed with the decision to strike particularly when we have two offers on the table which the unions decided not to present to members before going to ballot", the Tata spokesperson said.
"We are not immune to the difficult economic circumstances facing families and businesses, but we do believe the pay award offers made by us to be fair.
"We are urging the unions to reconsider their position and present the two offers on the table for consideration by members so that we can reach a swift resolution in line with what's reasonably affordable to the business, and in the best interests of the factory."
The company added that: "Contingency plans have been executed to enable production to continue with minimum disruption to supply, so we can ensure that Tetley is available for the millions of consumers who enjoy it.
Commenting on the escalation today (4 October), GMB organiser Paul Clark said: “These women work their fingers to the bone for this company, providing the UK with its favourite cup of tea. But they’re paid a pittance and it is just not right."
He added: “Tata bosses need to be clear; these women will not be intimidated and will not back down until they’ve won a pay rise that allows them a decent standard of living.”
While this marks the first official series of strikes at the Tetley plant in Teesside, close to 200 workers voted to strike in August 2023 over cuts to pay, though no strike dates were set at the time.
Later that month, Tata Consumer Products came to the table with staff, offering a 7% pay rise backdated to 1 April, which employees accepted, GMB said.
When asked whether staff were now seeking a similar, GMB told Just Drinks: "Workers asked for a one year deal, national minimum wage rose by 9.8% and that’s what members are focused on."
