Cadbury staff in favour of strike

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Cadbury workers are considering taking strike action in a row over pay, according to the union Unite.

A ballot of 1,200 workers at the chocolate maker showed the majority were in favour of taking action, the union said.

Unite claims that Cadbury is breaking a long-standing pay deal with workers at its Bournville, Chirk, Marlbrook and Somerdale plants.

The firm said the increase on offer was fair given the economic conditions.

Unite said Cadbury was refusing to honour the final year of a three year pay deal.

The union will now move towards a formal strike ballot. It says staff will only get a 0.5% increase in their pay packets.

A Cadbury spokesman said: "We have said all along that we have kept to our three year pay deal and, in the light of current pay freezes for all other Cadbury employees, this increase is fair particularly given current economic conditions."

The firm said it was confident any strike action would not affect chocolate supplies to the country.