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Trade unions in the UK and North America have accused metal packaging giant Crown of "aggressive behaviour" towards its staff.

Unite the Union in the UK and the US-based United Steelworkers revealed yesterday that they have written to Crown Holdings chief executive John Conway to, in their words, "challenge the company's aggressive behaviour towards some of its employees around the world".

News of the letter is the first time the unions have gone public on any dispute with the company in recent months.

Crown's head office in the US declined to comment on the letter when contacted by Packaging News.

In it, the two unions question the company's approach to labour relations in the UK which, they said, has led to "numerous industrial disputes over the last 12 months".

They also accuse the company of a "confrontational approach" to negotiations with workers in its Canadian operations.

The unions claim that the company has already closed a number of plants in the country and threatened to move more work out of Canada if workers do not agree to concessions in their working conditions.

Unite and the USW are working in partnership under the banner Workers Uniting and have offered to meet with senior Crown management to discuss workers' concerns.

Derek Simpson, Unite joint general secretary, said that it had "become apparent that there is an increasingly aggressive approach to both Unite and the United Steelworkers Union" from Crown.

USW national director for Canada Ken Neumann accused the company of "trying to pit worker against worker as the company searches for the highest profit and the lowest pay and other standards".

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