BAE (UNITE) Strike Calendar

Around 160 staff who work in safety critical roles will take further strike action at least until 24 December, that will see sites in Warton and Salmesbury severely affected. Previous strikes have seen managers without the same level of skills, and qualifications attempting to fill the roles done by experienced workers. Other staff will be taking action short of strikes including a refusal to travel, refusal of overtime and a refusal to take on additional work.

Workers were offered just 3.6 per cent, which is below the rate of inflation, and represents a real-terms pay cut. Staff who work within the professional services areas of BAE including aerospace engineers are furious that this is also below a pay offer made and accepted by BAE Systems shop floor colleagues, who received 4.5 per cent and an additional day of annual leave.

Workers at BAE Systems factories in Lancashire are escalating their strike action over pay following a dramatic victory in the High Court last week. Over 5200 Unite members voted in a strike ballot over a poor pay offer from the company but were nearly denied their human right to withdraw their labour after BAE chose to take the union to court and seek an injunction. Unite, the UK’s leading trade union in the defence and aerospace industry, won a famous victory that has meant initial strikes went ahead last week. Now, following a refusal by BAE management to negotiate it has imposed a pay increase that has been rejected by an overwhelming number of members several times. As a result, a select group of workers are taking further strike action that will see more production lines at Warton and Salmesbury grind to halt. Strike action will now take place from 26 November until 17 December dependent on exact worker designation and shift patterns.

Strikes will hit defence giant BAE Systems this winter as workers at two sites in Lancashire will take action due to a low pay offer. Members of the Unite trade union, the UK’s leading union in the defence and aerospace sector, are taking strike action at BAE’s Warton and Samlesbury plants after rejecting the company’s pay offer. They were offered just 3.6 per cent, which is below the rate of inflation, and represents a real-terms pay cut.