Workers at the Nissan car factory in Sunderland have voted to reject the company's recent pay offer of 2% this year and 2% for next year, which is a below inflation pay rise and represents a cut in real wages. The vote in the ballot was close with 51% of the whole workforce, which included management, voting to reject.

Nissan are proposing to rerun the ballot on the grounds that some people never voted! This blatant undemocratic move by the company has angered workers and has strengthened their resolve to fight for an even bigger majority to reject.

A recruitment campaign by the shop stewards to join Amicus the union has met with great success with hundreds flocking to join and more membership application forms having to be ordered after the stock had run out. At the moment there is only 30% union membership among the 4500 workforce but this is now rising rapidly as workers see the need to be in a union in order to be able to fight back.

Workers are angry that their shifts patterns have been altered so they have to work longer hours for the same pay. They are also angry that their pension contributions have been increased while all new starts are denied membership of the pension scheme. They are also angry about the compulsory requirement to work short notice overtime (known as SNOT) which causes tremendous disruption to workers home lives. All these issues have accumulated and have led to a new growing militancy among Nissan workers that could lead to sudden developments.

If the company fail to make an improved offer there is a real prospect of strike action at the Nissan plant for the first time in its 20-year history. This would be an historic move that could alter completely the climate of fear that management have created in the Nissan factory.