A GROUP of protesters stood outside M&S in Aberystwyth last week calling for pressure to be put on a popular breakfast cereal.

Members of the trade union, Unite, gathered to demonstrate outside M&S in Aberystwyth to raise public awareness about Weetabix’s fire and rehire practices, and to put pressure on M&S to fulfill their obligations as an ‘ethical supermarket’, and put support us in putting pressure on Weetabix to end this practice.

Weetabix has come under pressure after it emerged that changes were being made to shift patterns at its two factories in Kettering and Corby, that the union says will leave some workers as much as £5,000 out of pocket.

Unite Community Mid and West Wales said: “Ending this awful fire and re-hire practice is so important.

“Companies are using the pandemic to rehire their employees on lower wages, and worse terms and conditions. We stand in solidarity with all workers affected.”

Dylan Lewis-Rowlands, Unite community member and former Welsh Labour Senedd candidate for Ceredigion added: “It’s vital that Weetabix and all other companies stop using fire and re-hire practices in all forms, they are anti-worker, exploitative, damaging to our communities, and immoral”

In response, a Weetabix spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that Unite is arranging protests against Weetabix as part of its ‘End Fire and Rehire’ campaign.

“We have continuously asked the union to stop using the ‘Fire and Rehire’ reference because it is unfair and inaccurate to compare the discussions we are having with our engineers to other disputes that require employees to sign new contracts or face dismissal; this is not something we are considering.

“The changes we are proposing to our ways of working are necessary for us to stay competitive in the future.”