The strike action will begin on Wednesday (12 January) at 6am and will conclude at 5.59am on Thursday. It is the first of a series of 24-hour stoppages commencing every Wednesday until 31 March.
95.7% of the eligible workforce previously voted in support of strike action in late November on an 84.4% turnout.
According to its most recent accounts, for the year to 30 April 2020, the firm employed an average of 221 people including directors.
The pay dispute originates from early 2021 when Unite’s members were informed by FLB that there would be no pay rise. Due to pressure from Unite, the company made several further offers that were deemed unsatisfactory and ended with a two-year offer of 2.75%. Unite is demanding a 6% pay increase.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members at FLB are infuriated by the company’s attitude over pay. The FLB Group had a turnover of £20.3m in 2020 and it’s able to award at least one company director £200,000 a year.
“Yet the best it can do is offer a real terms pay cut. The workers at FLB have the full support of their union in this dispute over jobs, wages, and conditions. Workers are fighting back because they have simply had enough of being treated like an afterthought by management.”
Unite regional officer Carrie Binnie said: “The workers will start 24-hour stoppages every Wednesday from this week until the end of March. FLB has made several derisory offers to its workers despite the company having a healthy order book.
“This action can still be averted if the company get back to us with an offer which matches our ask and one which the workers deserve. If they do not, then rolling strike action will hopefully knock some sense into management.”
Last month the Unite members at the Dalkeith site set up a Twitter account devoted to their cause. News of the strike was tweeted on the account this morning and in a subsequent tweet this afternoon the account posted: “It is time for us to stand together to secure a fair and decent pay rise that is long overdue”.
FLB Group did not comment on the impending strike action when approached by Printweek.
The company’s managing director Susan Graham was recently appointed as the president of Print Scotland.
