Two weeks ago I blogged about Kettle Chips being unhappy about the threatening unionisation of their workers, to the point of hiring an American unionbusting company. Well, it seems this has paid off, as the Kettle Chips workers voted 2-1 against joining the Unite union:
Workers at Kettle Foods, the upmarket snack maker, have voted against union recognition at its Norwich factory after the company called in US union busters.
Factory and office workers voted 206 to 93 in a ballot, not to join the Unite union. The decision was welcomed yesterday by the company, owned by private equity group, Lion Capital, but it was greeted with dismay by the union and Richard Howitt, the local Labour MEP.
The food firm employed Omega, a subsidiary of US union busters the Burke Group, based in Malibu, California, to dissuade staff from joining the union.
The reporting of the battle in the Guardian led to two campaign groups – Boycott Kettle Crisps for Attacks on Workers, and Boycott Kettle Chips: the anti-union snack – being set up on the internet site Facebook. These have attracted nearly 800 people in Britain, Australia and the US.
The union is blaming the campaign against them for the result, but they’ll have to evaluate their own campaign as well. Why could they not convince these workers to do something that should be so evidently in their self interest? These battles will not go away anytime soon, as more companies will follow the example of Kettle Chips and use unionbusters to make sure their workers don’t organise. The unions better have their tactics ready.