Workers at the Jacob’s biscuit factory at Aintree in Liverpool are to strike after management arbitrarily axed sick pay and warned work is to be transferred abroad.

The 800 workers voted by 84 per cent to take strike action yesterday.

Strike dates will be announced if new talks fail to resolve the dispute.

The factory’s products include Jacob’s Cream Crackers and Club chocolate biscuits.

Last week it was announced that Jacob’s owner United Biscuits had been bought by Yildiz, a holding company of the Turkish manufacturer Ulker.

Becoming the third-largest manufacturer of biscuits in the world with the acquisition, Yildiz pledged investment in United Biscuits sites in Britain, particularly Aintree.

General union GMB’s national officer for the food manufacturing industry Stuart Fegan said that a meeting took place at Aintree last Wednesday to discuss resolution to a current dispute at the site.

He said: “However, senior management of United Biscuits have now issued a letter to all employees at Aintree unilaterally suspending company sick pay with immediate effect and advising the workforce that they are looking to source the products manufactured at the Aintree site elsewhere.

“GMB is advising the TUC and affiliated unions with members in other plants of the position and asking them to resist any attempts of management to move Aintree’s products to other United Biscuit sites and possibly overseas in what we believe is a deliberate move to inflame the dispute at Aintree which we have made some progress in resolving.”