GMB and Unite members accept Bidfood’s revised pay offer

Members of the GMB union and Unite the Union have voted to accept Bidfood’s revised pay offer, which will take the lowest rate of pay – currently £12 per hour – to £12.70 per hour.

A spokesperson for GMB told its members: “This year’s pay award was accepted by 60% of GMB members; this means that your back pay on all hours including overtime will be paid in your December pay. Thank you to all of you who took part in the ballot.”

The Unite and GMB unions had previously rejected Bidfood’s £12.50 per hour pay offer and were preparing options for a jointly coordinated industrial action ballot before Bidfood issued the revised proposal.

That offer addressed the issue of the lowest rate of pay across 10 depots and for the majority of cleaners and some PI [perpetual inventory] operatives, explained a GMB spokesperson. “For the rest of our members, the offer remains as it was, a 50p per hour increase.”

Meanwhile, following campaigning from GMB members, Bidfood has agreed to implement a new freezer break standard. “Bidfood have agreed that adherence to the British Frozen Food Industry standards on freezer breaks is the best way to ensure colleagues working in the freezer have adequate access to warm-up breaks, a warm rest area and free warm drinks,” said the GMB spokesperson.

“The BFFI standards are for a 10 minute break per hour (after 50 minutes of work). The break should be taken in a warm area and freezer workers should not be directed to do work elsewhere during this break. Free warm drinks should also be provided.

“We recognise there may be some local variations on this that align with or exceed these arrangements and where workers agree there is no reason these should not be maintained, as long as the principles of the above break schedule are adhered to. Where depots are not aligned with this approach, freezer workers can expect adjustments to their working patterns to reflect the correct way of managing warm-up breaks.”

In addition, GMB reports that it has “long been pushing for safer working in the back of the wagon”. In response, it says that, “Bidfood are now drafting a risk assessment to cover this area of work. GMB reps will be involved in this risk assessment and will be making recommendations. At our recent health and safety meeting with Bidfood, GMB called for a clear demarcation in the back of the wagons to prevent pallets and cages from being loaded all the way to the back of the wagon – we want to see a clear workspace for drivers.

GMB added that, following its calls to further improve the safety of drivers, “Bidfood will now be improving their delivery point risk assessment process. Drivers will be able to use Q Drop to identify where a delivery point requires a risk assessment. This risk assessment will be carried out in conjunction with suitable GMB representatives.” GMB said to its members: “Please use this function when it goes live and identify where you believe a delivery drop could be made safer.”