Workers at Dudley brick factory Glen Dimplex strike over 'eye-watering' 50 per cent rise in production targets

Workers at a Dudley brick making company have been out on the picket line protesting what the GMB Union has branded “eye-watering demands” from bosses.

Staff at Glen Dimplex Bricks in Coopers Bank Road, Pensnett, walked out on Monday (June 15) and they will be on strike until Wednesday (June 17) - then back out again next week if a deal cannot be reached with management.

The union said workers voted for industrial action after the business imposed gruelling new production targets on staff, without investment in training or new machinery.

The Dudley-based manufacturer produces specialist brick products for heating systems in homes and workplaces across the UK.

Workers told the Express & Star they’ve been ordered to increase production by 50 per cent - going from setting 2,000 bricks a day to 3,000 each.

Adrian Malpass, union rep, said: “They’re working with bricks so it’s repetitive. It’s not just people’s hands - it’s their backs too. The increase is putting extra pressures on. It’s people’s welfare.

“Where else would you go and they say you’ve got to do 50 per cent more work?

“We’ve tried to negotiate with management but then it went ahead in May.”

One worker told how he suffers from arthritis in his hands and said the requirement to increase productivity has made it impossible to work.

“I had no problem with the job before. I was quite capable of doing the job before but it’s gone from 2,000 bricks per shift to them putting it up to 3,000.”

GMB Union organiser Stuart Perry said: “They’re saying they need more productivity at the site.”

He said management had offered no solutions or suggestions as to how workers could cope with the extra workloads .

Union members just want to know they have “the support and equipment they need to do the job and return home to their families each day”, he said.

He branded the demands “eye-watering” and added: “It could be dangerous, plain and simple, but unfortunately top brass seem more interested in trousering profits than keeping workers safe."

Glen Dimplex bosses have been contacted for comment.