Engineering sites face strike action

Unions in the engineering construction sector have notified the employers that their members have rejected an 8% pay offer over the next two years by a majority of two to one. The unions will now move to a ballot on industrial action which may include a full ban on overtime and one-day stoppages.

"We are clearly disappointed that the offer has been rejected," commented Brenig Williams, chief executive of the Engineering Construction Industry Association. "We believe the offer was very reasonable in the circumstances."

Rejection of the proposed two-year deal follows period of site by site consultation by leaders of the Amicus, TGWU, and GMB unions. Union negotiators had reported back on what was described as "absolutely the final offer from the employers" without making any recommendation.

The negotiating team said it was disappointed at the offer. They were particularly concerned that the employers had refused to restore the time-and-a-half and double-time formulae for overtime.

Lead negotiator Paul Corby, national secretary of Amicus, said: "The offer over the two years is worth approximately £44 per week over 48 hours."

The proposed deal would have increased the advanced craft rate by 3.7% to £11.20 this April and by 4% to £11.65 in April of next year. The January RPI rate of inflation was 2.6%.

The strength of the vote against the offer comes as something of a surprise. "I thought they had done rather well," commented one union source. Thermal insulation workers had already accepted similar deal backdated to January.

The engineering construction or NAECI agreement covers up to 40,000 operatives engaged on power and process projects and includes pipefitters, steel erectors, welders, and scaffolders.