Sainsbury's met trade union representatives on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to end a winter of discontent among staff at its distribution centre at Haydock, Merseyside.
The 750 staff at the depot staged a 24-hour strike in support of their demand for more pay on December 29, after voting five to one in favour of industrial action.
They had rejected Sainsbury's pay offer of£7.55 per hour, which fell short of the£8 that workers claimed the grocer had acknowledged would bring them in line with the upper-quartile of warehouse workers in the Northwest.
A second strike was scheduled to begin at 10pm on Wednesday night until 10pm yesterday, but union Usdaw was hopeful in advance that a last-minute resolution could be thrashed out. A spokesman said: 'We have said all along that we want to resolve this amicably.' A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said contingency plans had been drawn up in case action proceeds.
Separately, staff at three distribution centres in Doncaster and near Manchester, which serve Tesco stores, are awaiting the result of legally binding arbitration from ACAS over a pay dispute with their employer, logistics firm Wincanton.
The Transport & General Workers Union met Wincanton for talks facilitated by ACAS on December 17 after staff rejected a 3.8 per cent pay rise. The ACAS ruling is expected within the next few weeks.
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