MANCHESTER, England, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite the Union will be calling on people across the North West to join their campaign to boycott Lil-lets products at this year's International Women's Day event in Manchester.
Unite officials and representatives will be handing out leaflets on Saturday 8th March at Manchester Town Hall to encourage the public to think again before buying Lil-lets products. Leaflets explaining why the general public should support the 150 Lil-lets workers who lost their jobs when production was sent abroad to Taiwan and Poland will be handed out.
Unite Regional Officer, Lawrence Chapple-Gill said: "We are asking the local community to support our campaign by boycotting Lil-lets until the company reconsiders its decision and ensures that the workers get the pension they had hoped for.
"These job losses have had a devastating social and economic effect on the families and communities. Unite will continue its campaign to support UK jobs and for companies to stop the closures here to relocate abroad."
The Unite campaign aims to build pressure on the company to persuade Lil-lets' private equity owner's Electra to give discretionary pension payments to the redundant workers over 50. Unite believes a boycott of Lil-lets is the best way to make the private equity company do what we believe is the right thing.
In past redundancy situations, Lil-lets paid extra into the pension fund so that workers who took their pension early would not suffer a reduction. However when Lil-lets closed their last UK factory in June 2007, the company refused to do this. As a result 46 older workers will now receive up to 30 per cent less pension than they had hoped if they take their pension early. This means they now face a very different retirement than they were planning for.
Our members want the company to reconsider and arrange for these people to get their pension with the discretionary increase. All negotiations to date have failed and Unite believes a boycott of Lil-lets is the best way to make private equity company Electra do what we believe to be the right thing.
Unite has produced a short film 'A Period Drama' to highlight Lil-lets boycott onto YouTube. To view "A Period Drama" visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_o3B-RZ72Q
Notes to Editor
Members and officers of the union will be leafleting outside Manchester Town Hall from 10.30 am on Saturday 8th March. The Unite stand will be situated in the Women and Politics Room, Manchester Town Hall for International Women's Day Event from 1.00 - 4.00 pm.
For further information about the campaign please visit http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=7919.
For further information please contact Karen Viquerat, Communications Officer on +44(0)1704-546-500 or +44(0)7768-931-316 or Ciaran Naidoo on +44(0)7768-931-315.
