More strike action at luxury car parts firm as union claims workers rely on food banks
Some workers who make interiors for luxury cars made by McLaren, Aston Martin and Bentley are having to use food banks, a union claims.
More than 100 workers at Tipton’s CabAuto are to stage fresh strike action in a pay dispute.
The workers, paid just £9.90 an hour, will stage two weeks of strike action this month at the factory on Vaughan Trading Estate, Sedgley Road East, over a three per cent pay offer. It follows on from seven days of strikes in June and at the beginning of this month.
The Unite union says a three per cent rise is a significant real terms pay cut when prices are soaring and RPI inflation is running at 11.7 per cent. Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “Well, here we have a story about modern Britain. CabAuto pays its workers poverty wages, although it’s part of an empire that makes more than £100 million in profits. The super rich are buying McLarens, Aston Martins or Bentleys, at a quarter of a million a time, fitted out by workers on £9.90 an hour, using food banks to make ends meet. It’s like Charles Dickens meets the 21st century.”
“CabAuto and Adler Pelzer should be ashamed of themselves. Unite will back these workers for as long as it takes to ensure they receive a fair pay rise.”
The first week of fresh strike action will begin on Monday, July 18 and end on Friday, July 22. The second will begin on July 25 until July 29. The union says that more strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved.
Unite regional officer Jason Richards said: “The strikes can stop but that requires CabAuto to negotiate in good faith and put forward an offer our members can accept.”No one could be contacted at CabAuto for comment.
