Kings Lynn Cooper Roller Bearings workers to strike over pay

<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20230803/1691055048225572.png" title="1691055048225572.png" alt="4.png"/></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">More than 100 workers employed by Cooper Roller Bearings in Kings Lynn are to strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday 2 August).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The workers have rejected a 5.5 per cent pay offer. With the true rate of inflation, RPI, standing at 10.7 per cent, this is a real terms pay cut.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The&nbsp;offer also comes with a ‘strings attached’&nbsp;performance related bonus of up to six per cent.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Cooper Roller Bearings made a profit before tax of more than ?7 million in the year ending 31 December 2022.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:&nbsp;“Cooper Roller Bearings brings in millions and can&nbsp;easily improve on its&nbsp;strings attached offer. Unite is&nbsp;wholly dedicated to defending and improving&nbsp;its&nbsp;members’ jobs, pay and conditions and our members at Cooper Roller Bearings have their union’s total backing in striking for a fair pay rise.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The workers will strike for one day on&nbsp;21 August. After that a continuous overtime ban will commence, with strike days doubling every week until the dispute is resolved.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Cooper Roller Bearings produces split roller bearings, tapered roller bearings and specialised bearings used&nbsp;in the steel, mining, marine, power and cement industries.&nbsp;The strikes will severely impact production at the factory.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Unite regional officer Steve Harley said:&nbsp;“This disruption to Cooper Roller Bearings clients is entirely of the company’s own making.&nbsp;They&nbsp;need to return to the negotiating table with an offer that is acceptable to our members.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><br/></p>