Argos deliveries face disruption as union eyes three-week strike
Argos faces disruption to its distribution network as workers plan three weeks of strikes over contract terms and concerns about cost-cutting from new parent company Sainsbury's.
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Union Unite said warehouse staff at five Argos sites would go on strike early in the morning of Tuesday 15 August and ending early in the morning of Tuesday 5 September.
After balloting its members, the union said it was "angry that Argos has failed to give guarantees at all its logistics sites that workers’ future terms and conditions will be safeguarded" and that close to 500 workers were transferred from one distribution hub in Lutterworth, Leicestershire to Wincanton Logistics in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
“What we are faced with is the thin end of the wedge with Sainsbury’s pulling the strings behind the scenes – and that the not-so-hidden agenda is serious cost-cutting to the detriment of our members," said Unite national officer for logistics and retail distribution, Matt Draper.
“The transfer of the workers from Lutterworth to the Wincanton site at Kettering, whether they wanted to go or not, led to this strike ballot," he added, demanding a "a comprehensive national agreement" to cover redundancy and severance packages.
Argos workers believe the strikes will hit deliveries immediately as the company works on a just-in-time policy.
But an Argos spokesperson said, "customers will not be impacted and should be reassured that full contingency plans are in place”.
The catalogue and digital retailer was acquired by Sainsbury's in a £1.4bn transaction almost one year ago, with its well regarded 'spoke and hub' distribution network one of the chief attractions for the purchase.
Signs of cost cutting at Argos have recently become apparent to customers as its famously lenient returns policy seemed to be coming to an end, with reports from within the company that the division was facing pressure from Sainsbury’s to keep a firmer lid on returns costs.
Alongside its final results in May there was clear pressure on Argos from the parent company, with Sainsbury’s promising to deliver its £160m EBITDA synergy target from the Argos acquisition six months early.
“We’re disappointed with the union’s actions, which are based on unreasonable demands and are wholly unnecessary," the spokesperson said.
Sainsbury's maintained that the dispute is not about pay and benefits nor about job losses, and felt the union was making demands "based on entirely theoretical scenarios".