Poultry supplier to face employment law case over dismissals

Posted 14/12/2009

A supplier of poultry products to major supermarkets is to be the subject of industrial and legal action over alleged breaches of employment law relating to racial equality.

Claims for unfair dismissal and discrimination are to be brought against 2 Sisters after 59 workers were sacked from its Birmingham site following a protest over the suspension of a fellow employee who had been racially abused.

Trade union Unite is also balloting 380 of its members employed by the company over possible strike action, which would take place in January.

Unite’s deputy general secretary Jack Dromey warned that workers faced with racism and unfair treatment would move to support their colleagues.

He said: “The message from the workforce is clear – this is wrong and they will strike for what is right.”

This comes after the Trades Union Congress earlier this month suggested that ethnic minority workers are increasingly being singled out for redundancy or exclusion from recruitment processes during the economic downturn.