Workers to strike for a week at Argos warehouse in Castleford

Delivery of the next Argos catalogue is expected to be held up by the stoppage, which will start at 6am at the Argos warehouse on California Drive.

The strike, which follows two earlier stoppages on June 15 and July 4, involves around 1,000 staff at distribution centres in Castleford, Basildon, Bridgwater and Leicestershire.

The Unite union claims workers face disruption to their family lives from increased weekend working after being pressurised into signing new contracts for fear of being sacked.

The union’s national officer for road transport and logistics, Matt Draper, said: “The crux of this dispute is Argos’ determination to push through a new 24-7 shift pattern, without offering our members a decent compensation package or make reasonable adjustments that would allow for a better work-life balance.

“It is going to cause havoc with childcare arrangements and mean spouses and partners will see much less of each other.”

Argos said 100 per cent of staff had accepted the terms of their new contracts.

The company said in a statement: “Such change was required to bring about a much needed alteration to outdated working hours and to ensure the business has the flexibility to meet customer’s expectations and remain competitive.”