Royal supplier Bidfood ‘the new P&O’ as unions claim thousands face being fired
Bidfood, which delivers food for the likes of Manchester United, Five Guys and Subway, has been compared to P&O ferries after two unions claimed thousands of workers could be fired and rehired on ‘worse terms and conditions’.
The GMB and Unite unions have said the company, which also delivers food for the army, prisons and schools across the UK, is on the verge of sacking and employing thousands after a ‘long-standing recognition deal was torn up’.
The unions said the deal dates back 30 years but was ‘ripped up’ by Bidfood management this week with immediate effect.
The organisations added that Bidfood bosses made the move ‘without the standard notice period’.
In a statement, GMB and Unite said they will now talk to their members to discuss next steps, ‘which will likely include a strike vote’.
In response, Bidfood said it is “in no way threatening a ‘fire and rehire’ of our employees, nor are we planning to change their terms and conditions”.
Bidfood has held a Royal Warrant for 25 years, with Kind Charles III reissuing it to the company in December.
The fire and rehire warning comes after P&O Ferries controversially dismissed 786 mainly British workers in 2022 and replaced them with mainly non-European agency staff earning as little as £4.87 an hour.
The move was criticised from politicians of all parties and incurred threats of a consumer boycott.
In November, it was revealed that P&O Ferries spent more than £47m to sack the seafarers in 2022 in a move which helped it cut its losses by over £125m.
‘Bidfood faces becoming P&O on the road’
GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said: “GMB, Unite and Bidfood have successfully worked together to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions since at least the 1990s.
“Our members work hard delivering vital food supplies for the army, prisons and schools across the UK.
“They deserve the protections union recognition brings.
“Without us, bosses will be able to do what they want, ripping up their contracts and enforcing worse terms and conditions.
“Bidfood faces becoming P&O on the road and GMB members won’t stand for it. All options are open, including an industrial action vote.”
‘This was not a decision we made lightly’
A Bidfood spokesman said: “We can confirm that after careful consideration, we have made the decision to withdraw our voluntary agreement to have a Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU) across our business from 17 January, 2025.
“This was not a decision we made lightly, however we’ve found in recent years that the CBU is not reflective of the interests of the majority of our employees and is therefore not fully representative of those working within transport or our warehouse roles, with a number of employees voicing concerns and frustrations over long delays in resolving issues.
“Following the highly inflammatory and untrue claims made in the release that GMB has issued today, we want to make it clear that we are in no way threatening a ‘fire and rehire’ of our employees, nor are we planning to change their terms and conditions.
“It’s really disappointing to see GMB attempt to scaremonger in order to foster mistrust and doubt among our employees.
“This further cements our view that this is not the collaborative approach we aspired to have between ourselves and the trade unions.
“In order to best represent and support our warehouse and transport community, it’s important for us to work with our teams directly through our Employee Engagement Forums, which we believe represent a wider range of our employees’ views across all sites, and are a more agile, effective and collaborative way to listen, discuss and resolve matters that are important to our employees, in real time.
“We really value our people and pride ourselves on being a people business. We take the importance of listening to and supporting them incredibly seriously, and we value contributions and feedback from all of our employees.
“We remain committed to ensuring an open approach to discussing and tackling issues and wholeheartedly believe this is a positive step for our business and our people.”