GSK�s UK workers vote for industrial action over �derisory� pay offer

April 29, 2022

The pay offer dispute comes after GSK made significant profits in 2021 and gave its CEO a 17% pay rise.

The UK workers of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have voted for industrial action after the company offered them a 2.75% pay rise, an offer that would be a real-terms pay cut while the true rate of inflation remains at 9%.

The workers, members of the union Unite, voted 86% in favour of strike action after GSK made what the union has termed a �derisory� pay offer.

The pay offer has been especially problematic for workers in light of the �34.1 billion that the company made in profits last year from household medicines such as Sensodyne and Panadol.

In addition, GSK�s chief executive officer Emma Walmsley received a pay increase of 17% in 2021 to the tune of �8.2 million.

Sharon Graham, general secretary for Unite, said: �Never before have our members at GSK voted for strike action � their anger is a clear response to the company�s colossal corporate greed.

�GSK pocketed more than �34 billion in profits last year, yet expects its workforce to swallow a pay cut in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. As the strength of our members� vote shows, this is simply not acceptable � I�m backing Unite members and their demand that GSK thinks again.�

Tony Devlin, national officer at Unite, commented: �Our members at GSK have delivered a huge mandate in favour of strike action.

�Even at this late stage Unite has offered GSK a small window in which to make an improved offer and to avoid the inevitable disruption to production that will occur if strike action takes place.�

GSK is preparing for a demerger later this year when it will spin off its consumer health business into a newly independent company, called Haleon. The listing of Haleon is expected in July 2022.