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8 ASIAN TRADER 18 OCTOBER 2024

The ﬁ rst ever industrial

action by workers at

Tetley’s has escalated.

“These women work

their ﬁ ngers to the bone for

this company, providing

the UK with its favourite

cup of tea,” says the GMB

Union

Almost 150 GMB

members working at Tata

Consumer Products,

which makes Tetley Tea in

Teesside, have walked out

today [Friday] in anger over

poverty pay, and a further

strike will take place on 10

October.

Tensions between workers

and bosses were further

inﬂ amed when management

called the police during

previous industrial action,

claiming the predominantly

women strikers were being

“intimidating”.

Police took no action and

now the company is suing

their own workers for

trespass.

“These women work

their ﬁ ngers to the bone for

this company, providing

the UK with its favourite

cup of tea,” said Paul Clark,

GMB Organiser. “But

they’re paid a pittance and

it is just not right.

“Not only that but, now

bosses are trying to sue them

for exercising their legal right

to strike.

“Tata bosses need to be

clear; these women will not be

intimidated and will not back

down.”

Tetley strike escalates – owner

calls in police against women

A top tipple to celebrate

with this Diwali

Nick Gillett is

Co-founder and

Managing

Director of

successful spirits

distributor

Mangrove

Global, as well as an industry

expert and commentator. In his

column for this issue, Nick

celebrates India’s contribution

to classic toasts with its

wonderful and increasingly

well-known whiskies

October is here, and our thoughts turn

to many of the remaining celebrations of

the year – and ﬁ rst up we have Diwali. A

time for lavish decorations, food,

sweets, and drinks, Diwali begs the

question: what will you have in your

glass for a toast? For me there’s one

answer, and it’s whisky.

Whisky as a category is changing.

Enthusiasts are exploring beyond the

shores of Scotland and Ireland and

buying “world whiskies” from all corners

of the globe. North America and Japan

have had their moment – and now it’s

India’s turn.

Indian whiskies showcase Indian

traditions of whisky distilling – with some

added innovation. The humid Indian

climate ages the spirit much faster, giving

deep, complex ﬂ avours. But the nation’s

distilleries are experimenting with

dif erent casks, strengths, and ingredients

to bring us fascinating liquids that are now

sought after, all over the world.

We launched Indri in the UK a few

months ago – and it’s been a runaway

success that even we couldn’t have

predicted. Distilled in Rajasthan, Indri

uses six-row barley that’s been grown in

the region for thousands of years. The

ageing process varies across the range,

but let’s take a closer look at the brand’s

aptly named, limited edition SKU – Di-

wali. Aged in Pedro Ximenez sherry

casks this whisky is smooth, sweet, and

smoky. No bones about it, this is a

collector’s item – and there will be

another limited release this year.

So, this Diwali, ensure you celebrate

India’s whisky-fuelled success and stock

a bottle or two of the nation’s favourite

on your shelf. And if you celebrate it,

have a very enjoyable Diwali.

The Post Of ce (POL) Horizon

IT scandal victims will still not

receive payouts by the March

2025 deadline given by the

campaigner Sir Alan Bates, the

postal minister Gareth

Thomas has said.

Thomas said it would be

dif cult to achieve the

deadline but promised that

there would be “substantial

progress” toward clearing the

compensation claim backlog

by next summer.

“I wish I could commit to

Sir Alan’s timeframe,” Thomas

said, speaking to BBC Break-

fast today (2). “I think we will

have made substantial

progress by next summer.”

Thomas’ statement comes a

day after the inquiry into the

scandal heard testimony that

claimed the compensation

strategy had previously been

focused on saving taxpayers’

money, as opposed to the

supposed goal of “full and fair”

compensation for those

af ected.

The former POL chair

Henry Staunton told the

hearing that during his time in

the role he formed a view that

the state-owned body had a

bureaucratic, unsympathetic

and adversarial approach.

“With respect to remedia-

tion, the government and Post

Of ce were dragging their

heels,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sir Alan said

last week that ﬁ nancial redress

schemes “can’t be allowed to

drag on for years again”,

adding, there’s no reason it’s

just the “bureaucracy driving

them into the ground again”.

Last month, Sir Alan sent a

letter to hundreds of former

branch owner-operators

calling for a March 2025

deadline for ﬁ nancial redress

for those af ected by the

Horizon scandal, in which

hundreds of post of ce

operators were wrongly

pursued through the courts

over account shortfalls that

were later linked to a faulty IT

system.

Thomas refuses to commit to Sir Alan’s PO scandal victim timeframe

Government ministers still ‘dragging

their heels’ over compensation

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