Popular snack could face shortages as workers being paid ‘in peanuts’ threaten strikes

Pubs and supermarkets will be ‘hit hard’ by the strikes, Unite says

A popular snack could face shortages in supermarkets around the UK (Getty Images)

A popular snack could face shortages in supermarkets and pubs around the UK as workers threaten to go on strike.

Workers at KP Snacks are set to vote on strike action on Monday, the Unite trade union said. Strike action could see the company’s Rotherham factory shut down and supplies of KP Nuts to pubs and supermarkets disrupted.

Some 135 workers, including low-paid cleaners, are voting on potential strike action, who say they are being paid in “peanuts”.

KP peanuts (PA Archive)

It comes as the company saw its profits increase by 275 per cent since 2018, according to Unite, with the popular brand making £54m in profit.

Meanwhile, average pay at KP Snacks has fallen in real terms by 14 per cent since 2018, Unite claims.

The current offer on the table is a six per cent boost to pay, plus a £1,000 one-off payment. However, the lowest paid cleaners are excluded from the pay offer, the union said.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This year workers won’t accept being paid peanuts.

“To exclude the lowest paid workers from the pay negotiations altogether is corporate greed in action. Especially when KP Snacks made £54m in profit. The workers have Unite’s steadfast support.”

Unite regional officer, Chris Rawlinson said pubs and supermarkets will be “hit hard” by the strikes.

Rawlinson continued: “Unite members are determined to get a fairer portion of the company’s huge profits. It’s time for management to put a serious pay offer to the workforce.”

The strikes come amid nationwide industrial action by workers, including rail workers, junior doctors, civil servants and teachers.

A Unite picket line (PA Wire)

Months of negotiations between the government and unions representing workers in public-facing professions have failed to yield a solution to ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions in a number of sectors.

The Aslef union today announced another week of industrial action from 31 July to 5 August.

The new refusal to work overtime will extend disruption across the railways of England and the London Underground to a total of 22 days over the peak summer spell.

Meanwhile, RMT general-sectretary Mick Lynch told The Independent that further rail strikes are “fairly likely”this year so long as its talks with government negotiators remain in a state of deadlock.

On Thursday, the RMT union will resume rail strikes, with hundreds of trains being cancelled over three days of strike action.

In a separate dispute, staff working for the London Underground will walk out for six days in late July in a row over pensions, job cuts and what the RMT union calls “attacks on working conditions”.

Last week, the government announced millions of public sector workers will receive pay rises of 6 per cent or more.

Teachers will receive an increase of 6.5 per cent, junior doctors, consultants and dentists will receive 6 per cent and police and prison officers will receive 7 per cent.

These awards apply to those working in England and Wales, with devolved administrations making separate offers to their staff.

KP Snacks was contacted for comment.

Its website says: “Putting KP people first is our number one priority. We aim to provide a working environment that’s safe, inclusive, rewarding and inspires all our KP colleagues to be the very best they can be.”