Trade union Unite has fought on many occasions against fire and rehire tactics like those whihc prompted the dispute at Oscar Mayer. Photo Workers.
Workers at Wrexham’s Oscar Mayer ready meals factory are celebrating after concluding their long-running industrial dispute with the company, marked by the signing of a statutory recognition agreement. This follows an earlier trade dispute agreement that secured the reinstatement of 26 dismissed workers and improvements to holiday compensation.
More than 500 Unite members at the plant took over 200 days of strike action between September 2024 and April 2025 in a fight for their colleagues’ jobs, and over terms and conditions of employment. The company attempted to slash pay by up to £3,000 a year by firing workers and rehiring them on inferior contracts.
The workers have now secured an agreement that not only reinstates the dismissed workers but also compensates workers for the loss of paid breaks, gets members an extra day’s holiday if they work bank holidays, allows them to carry over accrued holidays to 2026 and for the first time puts in place a formal recognition agreement.