The union is locked in a battle with the Austrian manufacturer over strike action at its Bootle plant taken over proposed redundancy payments and selection criteria, which turned nasty last weekend (17 February) when management locked employees out.

According to national officer Ian Tonks, the latest round of meetings, which took place on Wednesday (22 February) went well, but have far from solved the problem.

A further meeting will take place next Wednesday (29 February), while on the same day Unite officials are flying out to Berlin to meet with MMP employees at the company's German and Austrian plants over support action.

Tonks told PrintWeek: "Talks broke up Wednesday and went better than I expected, although only regarding selection criteria and not to the satisfaction of the members.

"There have also been high level meetings at Unite HQ and regional officer Phil Morgan and head of international Simon Dubbins will be meeting with our German colleagues.

"We understand that some work that should have been carried out at Bootle may have been produced in Germany and Austria and the German legislation makes it far easier for them to support us."

A second meeting with the company has been scheduled for 9 March, should Wednesday's meeting prove unsuccessful, which Tonks said was likely.

Meanwhile picket action continues daily at the plant, while Saturday morning (25 February) Unite members held another full-scale protest that was attended by Unite general secretary Len McCluskey.