Fears of tea shortage as Tetley Tea workers gear up for first-ever strike --[Reported by Umva mag]

FEARS of a tea shortage are mounting as Tetley Tea workers gear up for their first-ever strike.

Nearly 150 GMB workers at Tata Consumer Products, the firm behind the nation’s beloved brew, are set to down tools over “poverty pay”.

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The walkout will hit production tomorrow and Monday, sparking concerns a tea drought could be on the horizon.

Paul Clark, the GMB union organiser, said: “Tata bosses need to get back round the table, or we face a shortage of the UK’s favourite cup of tea this autumn.”

GMB members at the Eaglescliffe factory, near Stockton, Co Durham, voted to take industrial action after being offered a 4.4 per cent pay rise, compared to the 7 per cent they got last year.

In recent years, the company revealed it would be trialling plastic-free teabags in order to help cut down on customers’ plastic use.

Last year, staff at Bakkavor Pizza — which makes the Italian treat for numerous supermarkets, threatened strikes.

They wanted 13.4 per cent extra pay, with some saying they have to use food banks to survive and that automation has cut their chances for overtime.

The GMB union said the firm’s plant in Harrow, North West London, was facing “severe disruption” after a 5.9 per cent pay deal was rejected by 78 per cent of its members.

It said the plant has a “predominantly female workforce from ethnic Asian communities”.

One worker told how they were struggling to live on £11.14 an hour — 81p below the London Living Wage — despite the firm’s £46.3million profits in its latest half-year report.

A worker said: “Many of us relied on overtime, but since the introduction of faster, automated production, the opportunity that boosted our pay is rare.”

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