image credit: Getty Images Clarks employees are considering going on strike because the corporation has threatened to fire them and rehire them on worse conditions. According to the union, this is yet another example of a contentious practice that is becoming increasingly common. Clarks had been losing money for years before being purchased in February by a Hong Kong-based private equity business. Employees are being consulted regarding employment terms, according to a company representative. 109 of the 145 Clarks warehouse workers in Somerset are on contracts that were signed before to the private equity takeover and are more favorable than those offered to new hires. They will be asked to accept a new contract that will result in a 15% wage cut, three fewer days of vacation, worse sickness terms, and the elimination of 10-minute breaks and complimentary hot drinks. Clarks will file legal papers this week to begin a 45-day consultation period, following which it might fire all of its employees and rehire them on new contracts. Community, the employees’ trade union, has stated that all alternatives are being studied to combat the transfer, including strike action. “At our Westway Distribution Centre in Street, Somerset, Clarks is now consulting with unions and employees on proposed changes to employment terms and conditions for all operators,” a Clarks spokesperson stated. We are unable to speak further at this moment because we are in the middle of a consultation.” According to the BBC, Clarks is still looking for a negotiated solution that does not entail terminating and rehiring any employees. Workers on the new contracts may see their income increase as a result of the new job arrangements. image courtesy of Getty Images Clarks had been losing money prior to the outbreak and has been particularly hard hit during the shutdown. When it files its next set of annual reports, it is expected to declare a substantial loss. “Those who have been employees for decades, remaining with the organization through thick and thin, and stepping up in the last year during the hard pandemic period are the workers most badly affected by these changes,” stated John Paul McHugh, Assistant General Secretary from Community. “Firing and rehiring is no way to say thank you to your staff or customers.” We request that Clarks stop reducing terms and conditions.” Clarks shoe shops, founded in 1825 by two brothers, Cyrus and James, have become a mainstay on the British high street. It presently has 460 outlets in the United Kingdom and over 700 more worldwide. The suggested adjustments have no impact on shop workers. The Clark family lost control of the company for the first time in nearly two centuries when Hong Kong-based private equity firm LionRock Capital purchased a majority stake for £100 million earlier this year. Alamy is a copyrighted image. When a company wants to amend a worker’s employment contract, frequently to save money, they might terminate all of the affected employees and rehire them on new contracts, a practice known as ‘fire-and-rehire.’ Following the pandemic, the debate over this technique has grown even more heated. British Airways, Coffee producer Jacobs Douwe Egberts, British Gas, transport firm Go North West, and Tesco are among the companies involved in recent disputes using alleged fire-and-rehire procedures. The conciliation service ACAS discovered evidence of the practice at small and medium-sized businesses in a study into fire-and-rehire. It has been asked for a ban by Labour, the Lib Dems, and the SNP, as well as trade unions. The government has no intentions to outlaw it, but it has stated that it should only be used as a last resort and not as a bargaining tool. StreetPayRetailingCompaniesEmployment/n
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