It followed a protest at the BBC Good Food Show last Thursday (12 April), where they attempted to draw the attention of exhibitor and MMP customer John Lewis to their plight.

Problems began at MMP's Bootle plant in late 2011 when 49 redundancies were announced. Employees were unhappy with terms offered, as well as selection criteria, leading to strike action on 10-11 February.

A second strike the following weekend turned nasty with employees locked out by management, then occupying the plant.

Staff continued to be locked out into March when they rejected improved redundancy terms, while the company took disciplinary action against four employees relating to the 17 February occupation.

On Friday 16 March the company sent redundancy letters to 49 staff with Unite claiming their members had been targeted.

With no resolution in the dispute, MMP management announced that the plant would close on 29 March, prompting the union to pursue legal action, claiming the move was done illegally.

Employees and the union have continued to draw attention to the ongoing dispute, visiting the Austrian embassy, as well as last weekend's activities.

Unite south east regional secretary John Rowse said that MMP produces packaging for leading brands such as Kellogg’s whose products are sold by leading retailers including John Lewis, which owns Waitrose.

He said: "MMP is a rich company that is in breach of the law and has put over 140 workers and their families out of work in Merseyside.

"We are calling on John Lewis to insist that MMP complies with John Lewis' Responsible Sourcing Code, with UK law and talk to Unite about resolving this situation as a matter of urgency in order to end this illegal lock-out and get these workers back to work."