Katsouris food workers organise

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If you enjoy ready-made snacks and dips, the chances are you've tried some of Katsouris Fresh Foods' produce. Every day Katsouris workers in Wembley, North London, produce about 110,000 ready meals, 150,000 dip pots and 30,000 snack foods. These are distributed to major retailers, such as Tesco (its largest customer), Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury and Waitrose.

Every day there are also three to four accidents in Katsouris's three sites, according to GMB Branch Secretary Hiten Vaidya. These vary from cuts and bruises to broken limbs and back injuries. London Hazards Centre worker Angie Birtill recently attended a meeting of Katsouris workers who are fighting for union recognition, to find out why health and safety is so central to their organising agenda.

The meeting called by GMB shop stewards Varsha Unadkat, T Sriskantharajah and Krimila Chunilal took place in the Brent Indian Association hall in Wembley on Sunday 28th March. The stewards were joined on the platform by Hiten Vaidya, GMB organiser Tahir Bhatti and GMB shop steward R Murliharan from a neighbouring food production company, Noon Products. Speeches were translated into Gujarati and Tamil and refreshments were provided throughout the afternoon.

Katsouris came under fire from the GMB speakers for its low pay and inadequate sick leave provision, but most of all for its failure to provide a safe workplace for Katsouris's 1200 employees. Angie spoke to some of those affected and heard a long list of problems from union members.

'Freezing cold temperatures are a major hazard in all three Katsouris sites,' Hiten told us. 'In the blast freezer area temperatures can be as low as minus 18 degrees centigrade.' Although the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations require employers to limit the time for which workers are exposed, 'in practice this doesn't happen,' one Katsouris employee said. 'You can be making trips to get items from the freezers every 10 minutes and when you get inside you have to climb over boxes and stacks of pallets in order to reach the freezers,' he explained. Employers are meant to provide suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and rest facilities when workers are exposed to unreasonable temperatures but our source complained that the locker room where his PPE equipment is kept is upstairs 'which meant an extra journey'.

Manual handling and slip hazards are also big issues for Katsouris workers. 'There is no limit on the amount of lifting and handling we are expected to do all day,' another employee reported. 'The trolleys used by the company are too small. They are often stacked with as many as 18 full trays of food and big bowls of meatballs. One person is expected to manoeuvre this through narrow aisles. You end up with pains in your arms and back afterwards'.

Varsha told the Daily Hazard that slip hazards were very common at Katsouris because there was often spilt olive oil on the ground and the company did not employ cleaners. Katsouris's welfare provision is extremely poor in Varsha's view. 'There is no proper place to hang overalls or leave shoes. The canteen at the Cumberland site is too small and I have to breathe in smoke from the smoking area whenever I eat there,' she said.

The situation at Katsouris and the attitude of its management towards health and safety is illustrated by the case of a twenty-year-old kitchen worker who took part in Sunday's meeting. This man's foot had been scalded when the nozzle on a pan containing 250 litres of boiling water was suddenly opened. The victim showed us the scars on his foot, which remain months after his accident.

'There was no guard on the cooker when our member was burnt,' Hiten, his Branch Secretary, told the Daily Hazard. 'The company didn't even take him to hospital. The company nurse told him to wait in the canteen where he remained in agony from midday until 5.30pm when I collected him and drove him to casualty.' The GMB officers have since submitted a compensation claim on behalf of their member. They also secured him full wages during the four months he was off work. Since returning to Katsouris, management have moved the man to an even heavier job in the packing department.

The HSE has served five improvement notices on Katsouris. 'But these have made little difference,' GMB organiser Tahir Bhatti claims. 'Workers are forced to get the place clean and tidy before the inspectors' visits and that's the only way they know the HSE is coming.'

So Katsouris workers have strong motives for organising. 'Where GMB workers have gained union recognition, health and safety improvements have followed,' Tahir told the meeting. Noon Products shop steward and safety representative R Murliharan agreed. 'We had no safety shoes or first aid facilities before the union got involved. There weren't enough breaks from the cold areas and like Katsouris no information was provided in the languages spoken by the workforce. Since winning union recognition in 1999 many gains have been made. There are now first aid facilities in every area. The company provides information and training in Punjabi and Tamil. We've also negotiated proper sick pay and two weeks extra leave.'

Despite the problems experienced by Katsouris workers and the petty harassment of its shop stewards, its GMB members are determined to succeed. The union is now in its final stages of negotiating a recognition agreement with Katsouris. 'The ball is rolling' according to Tahir Bhatti.

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