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Engineers employed at Weetabix factories are set to begin a series of two-day strikes this month in a dispute over what their trade union describes as a fire-and-rehire proposals that will result in some being as much as £5,000 per year worse off. Unite members based at the company’s factories in Kettering and Corby in Northamptonshire say they face being dismissed and re-engaged on new contracts that change shifts and working patterns. Weetabix denied it was considering a "fire and rehire" approach. Strike action was originally scheduled for June but was postponed to allow for in-depth talks with management. Those talks led to new proposals, but these were rejected by 82% of members in a consultative ballot Unite said it will begin a series of 48-hour strikes on Tuesday 21 September on a weekly basis throughout the autumn with the final strike scheduled for 30 November. General secretary Sharon Graham said: “The idea of ‘fire and rehire’ is abhorrent to me. If Weetabix decide to go down this route and they overstep the line then I will absolutely defend our members.” The industrial action is likely to cause production delays and could lead to shortages of Weetabix cereal and other products including Alpen, Weetos and Oatibix. Weetabix returned a net turnover of $440 million (£319 million) in 20