Employee Employer Relations | A "Permanent Strike" Threatens a Shortage of Twiglets

Industrial relations at Jacob's food factory in Liverpool are not harmonious, and we now be about to suffer a shortage of some festive seasonal favourites.

According to The Guardian, Jacob's factory at Aintree in Liverpool makes around 4,000 tonnes of crackers each year.

However, production output looks set to fall as workers strike in support of a pay rise.

The employees want a 9% pay rise. Jacob's management have offered less than half that and are threatening to offshore production to another factory in Portugal.

Tbh I can live without the crackers at Xmas or any other time.

However, what really takes the biscuit for me is the threat to production of Twiglets - also made at the Liverpool factory.

The iconic wheat-based snack with a distinctive knobbly shape is a must-have at Xmas. For that reason alone, we must all hope that the long-lasting industrial action comes to a satisfactory agreement between employees and employers.

However, as part of my festive contingency planning, I'm off to Tesco to stock up on Twiglets before word gets out about a possible shortage...