Tetley Tea workers in Stockton walk out in row over pay

Workers at a Tetley Tea factory have walked out in a dispute over pay.

The GMB union said 150 members at the plant in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton-on-Tees, had taken industrial action after being offered a 4.4% pay rise from parent company Tata Consumer Products, compared to the 7% they received last year.

The union warned there could be tea shortages because of the action.

Tata Consumer Products said it was "disappointed" the strike was going ahead and that contingency plans were in place to minimise disruption to supply chains.

The company said it had two pay offers "on the table" which the unions had yet to present to members.

A spokesperson said: "We are urging the unions to reconsider and present these offers for consideration by members so that we can reach a swift resolution in line with what's reasonably affordable to the business, and in the best interests of the factory."

The factory on Teesside is Tetley's biggest in the world, and it supplies 30% of the UK market.

GMB organiser Paul Clark urged bosses to "get back round the table".

He said: "This loyal, predominately female workforce has endured year after year of real terms pay cuts."

Andrea Crossan, a union representative who has been at the company since 1997 said they were "fighting" for a fair pay deal.

"With the cost of living crisis, a lot of us are mums, we're families, we feel we deserve it, and we want it," she said.

Michael Birch, another union representative who has been at the company for 23 years, said it was a "brilliant" place to work but the pay situation was "unfair".

"They say the women are unskilled, which they aren't because there is a lot of high speed, complicated machinery in there," he said.

Another day of industrial action by the GMB is scheduled for Monday.