Construction engineering workers could strike after rejecting the offer of a 10 per cent pay rise next year.
Union bosses were due to meet representatives on Monday (November 6) to discuss an “industrial action strategy” which will affect the UK’s main power stations.
More than 3,000 workers at sites including Sellafield nuclear station and Grangemouth oil refinery were voted in for a pay deal worth 10% next year and 5% in 2025.
An overwhelming majority (86%) called for the latest offer to be rejected, raising the specter of mass exodus.
comes later a vote in September gave union bosses the mandate to call industrial action as part of a long-running dispute over wages.
Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national lead for the GMB union, said this week: “The pay of construction engineering workers has fallen by more than 20% below inflation.
“So it’s no surprise that they haven’t agreed to a pay deal that still amounts to a pay cut in real terms.
“These are extremely skilled workers, who are considering mass legal industrial action for the first time in their careers because their employers have failed to keep their rates of pay in line with inflation.”
The dispute affects GMB and Unite members working under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI).
The agreement, which sets out the terms of employment for hourly workers on a range of projects across the UK, is led by the National Joint Council, which includes the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA ) and other organisms.
Unite said it was preparing to vote on workers elsewhere in the country to join any industrial action.
National officer Jason Poulter said: “There is a limited window of opportunity for NAECI contractors and clients to avoid widespread industrial unrest.
“They have the money to make sure our members’ fees are restored to their previous value. Their last offer was insufficient and was overwhelmingly rejected by our members. They need to renegotiate and work with us to find an acceptable offer”.
ECIA and the National Joint Council have been contacted for comment.
