Union bosses have demanded that 2 Sisters employees in Coupar Angus get full pay to self-isolate with staff left without wages during quarantine.
Unite called for action as 63 employees at the chicken factory tested positive for Covid-19 – the second major coronavirus outbreak to hit the plant since the beginning of the pandemic.
The union said 2 Sisters must “do the right thing” and provide full pay for any of their nearly 1,200 contracted and agency staff forced to self-isolate due to public health advice.
Susan Robertson, Unite industrial officer, told The Courier that no employees were getting paid for isolating with the company asking workers to take statutory sick pay.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) stands at £95.85 per week.
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She said: “Unite welcomed the previous decision by 2 Sisters in August 2020 to pay these low-income workers full pay and we are calling on them to do the right thing once again.
“Unlike other businesses, this highly profitable company has continued to operate during the pandemic and it has employed more staff than ever before at the Coupar Angus site.
“If workers are fit to be at work but self-isolating due to Public Health Scotland’s advice then they should be paid in full, it is as simple as that.”
The union official added: “They can well afford to pay these staff who, at the end of the day, are on low wages.”
Unite also called for 2 Sisters to try utilise the Job Support Scheme and demanded the company introduce rapid testing at the site to address “ongoing concerns” over the site’s susceptibility to Covid-19 outbreaks.
Ms Robertson said: “It’s also vital that the company work with the authorities to introduce lateral flow testing to the site as soon as possible.”
Perthshire SNP MP, Pete Wishart, backed the union’s demands and said “roadblocks” over pay had the potential to put the public at risk.
“I think the calls from Unite are perfectly legitimate and the right thing to do,” said Mr Wishart.
“Workers who have been asked to self-isolate are doing their colleagues and the wider Coupar Angus community a service by complying with the request to stay at home.
“Anything which puts roadblocks in the way of people being able to self-isolate potentially puts the public at greater risk.”
The politician added that the call for lateral flow testing at the site an “entirely reasonable” suggestion.
The 2 Sisters refused to respond to numerous requests for comment from The Courier.
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