WORKERS at Pilgrim’s Food Masters in Enniskillen have agreed an inflation-busting pay rise, with the boost being lauded as a trade union victory.
Members of union Unite at the processing factory, which was formerly Kerry Foods, have ended their industrial dispute with bosses after accepting a pay rise of £1.02 per hour. The new offer was made after the workers previously rejected a proposed increase of 85p per hour.
The increase, which come into affect from the start of April, will mean a 9.3 percent rise for the lowest paid workers at the plant, while it will see team leaders getting a 7.6 percent increase, while it will be a 5.6 percent increase for engineers. Unite has noted all of the increases are above the rate of inflation.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the news, “Pilgrims is a highly profitable and rapidly expanding company whose success is built from the efforts of its employees.
“Workers have succeeded in obtaining an above-inflation pay improvement and a significant improvement on what was initially offered through their readiness to take strike action.
“This outcome demonstrates once again the importance of strike-ready workplaces to win real improvements for workers.”
The latest recorded accounts from Pilgrim Food Masters UK Ltd reported a huge sales increase in 2022 – jumping from £123.7 million to £334.1 million on the year with operating profit rising from £19.8 million to £25.9 million.
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