Engineering agreement under threat

Leaders of the engineering construction industry have expressed concern that their national agreement is under threat following confirmation that it will not be used for the mechanical works on a œ250 million newsprint plant in Kent.

The main M&E work for the new paper mill has been awarded to Laker Construction, a subsidiary of Kyle Stewart, which said this week it will be working under the HVCA agreement as the plant is not an engineering construction nominated site.

Construction manager for the œ50 million building works is Laing-Loy Management, a joint venture between Laing Management and Lemminkainen Construction, of Finland.

Keith Sneddon, national office of the MSF union, said: 'In my opinion, Laing are trying to undermine our national agreement. The employers associations and ourselves are trying to persuade the clients to see the error of their ways on this.'