About 1,000 warehouse staff employed by Argos at five distribution centres are to stage a 24 hour strike in a dispute over terms and conditions.
Members of Unite will walk out on Friday, threatening disruption to deliveries.
The strike, starting at 6am, will hit the company's distribution centres at Basildon, Bridgwater, Castleford and Magna Park (Lutterworth, Leicestershire).
A strike at Heywood (Greater Manchester) starts at 6.30am.
Unite national officer Matt Draper said: "The crux to the dispute is Argos' determination to push through a new 24/7 shift pattern, without offering our members a decent compensation package to offset the severe disruption to their personal and family lives at weekends.
"In many cases, it is going to cause havoc with childcare arrangements and mean spouses and partners will see much less of each other.
"The company's plans will seriously undermine the 'work/life' balance."
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