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Industrial action against a North East engineering firm

AT LEAST 150 people are reportedly taking part in industrial action against a North East engineering company in a dispute over pay.

Astrum, in Stanhope, County Durham, is expected to be hit by a series of one-day strikes after workers rejected its “below expectations” offer of an annual pay rise.

Negotiations between the company – which produces tank tracks – and unions are to resume this morning. If a deal is not reached, workers will begin strike action later this week.

The move comes after a successful year so far for the Weardale firm, which was awarded a £30m two-year extension from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to supply the metal tracks for vehicles, including the Challenger 2 tank, in February.

The deal could be extended, meaning the contract value could increase to £60m.

Dave Telford, regional officer for the Unite union, which is taking part in the dispute alongside the GMB, said he remained hopeful that agreement can be reached.

He said: “The offer made to us for an annual rise was rejected by a large majority of members, which led to a ballot on industrial action.

“An overtime ban has been in operation since Saturday and we have planned one-day stoppages due to come into force, although we have further negotiations planned so they may not be necessary.”

Last year, Astrum was forced to make 30 redundancies as it battled against the economic climate, but about 15 people have been taken on since January through an upturn in business and the new MoD contract extension.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .