Engineering project workers threaten strike action over national agreement
12 Jun 2009
Manchester, UK - GMB and Unite shop stewards, representing over 30,000 workers in the engineering construction industry, are threathening strike action in support of union demands for changes to the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry.
The agreement, which is also known as the NACIE or blue book agreement, sets national pay and conditions for contractors and sub contractors on the construction and maintenance of large infrastructure projects. These typically include work on powers stations, oil refineries, process plant for chemical and pharmaceutical industries and gas terminals.
The unions are seeking a pay increase as well as changes to the auditing arrangements, said the GMB, which represents workers in the industry including welders, platers, thermal insulation engineers, crane drivers and slingers, fork lift drivers and general workers. The audit changes, it said, would enable unions to determine at pre-award stage that contractors bidding for work are able to meet NACIE terms and conditions.
Shop stewards are not happy with this final offer and believe that union members will not be prepared to accept the pay freeze that the employer’s offer entails, according to Phil Davies, GMB national secretary.
"They are not satisfied that the changes proposed in the auditing arrangements, as recommended by ACAS after the Lindsay dispute, make adequate provisions enable unions to determine at pre award stage that contractors bidding for work are able to meet NACIE terms and conditions," said Davies. "They are also not happy with the rejection by the employers of new arrangements to enhance job security in the industry.
"The shop stewards unanimously called for both unions to organize national ballots for official strike action to secure a satisfactory settlement on all these claims. The GMB Central Executive Council has already given me authority to go ahead with this ballot. My next step is to report to GMB members in this industry and to meet with GMB officers and legal advisors to begin the process of organizing this official industrial action ballot.”
*GMB members at National Grid in Newcastle plan a strike ballot to stop the off-shoring of jobs from the North East to overseas. GMB Organisers attended a mass meeting on Friday 5th June at the National Grid Newcastle site. The workers on the site are responsible for procurement, HR functions, payroll, accounts and invoicing. GMB believes that 181 jobs are at risk in National Grid¹s shared services function. GMB believes that the Company is planning a first tranche of redundancies in July, with a view to making further cuts and off-shoring the work to low wage economies such as India.