For immediate release: Thursday, 12 January 2012
Unite announces strike re-ballot in Balfour Beatty
Unite, the UK’s largest union, has today (Thursday, 12 January)
announced its plan to re-ballot members employed at Balfour Beatty
Engineering Services (BBES) for strike action over the employer-led
attacks on the skills and pay of workers in the sector.
Potential strike action could hit some of the UK’s key
infrastructure projects, including power stations and Crossrail as
disgruntled electricians, plumbers and heating and ventilating engineers
down tools.
The new strike ballot, which opens on Thursday, 19 January, follows
Balfour Beatty’s move to impose contractual changes on around 1,600
workers in BBES which will see the majority of skilled workers’ pay cut
by one third.
Unite national officer, Bernard McAulay said: “Skilled craftsmen are angry that BBES are leading the attack on their jobs.
“Over the past six months we have seen huge unrest in
construction sites all over the country because of this move. Unless
BBES and their cohorts re-consider the way they are forcing through
change there will be harmful strikes across the country.
“Good industrial relations involves negotiating change in a
constructive way, instead BBES are imposing an employer’s charter on an
unwilling workforce.”
The company has told Unite that it if their staff refuse to sign up
to the new inferior contracts they will sack them and replace them with
agency labour. The ballot closes on Wednesday, 1 February.
Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, along with six other leading
construction companies, intend to withdraw from five long-standing
agreements and impose new semi-skilled grades with massive cuts in pay.
The ballot announced today follows a previous BBES strike ballot in
late November 2011, where over 80 per cent of Unite members voted ‘yes’
for strike action. But rather than listen to the voice of its workers,
BBES preferred to use the draconian balloting laws to challenge the
validity of the ballot forcing Unite to re-ballot.
“Unite members made it abundantly clear that they do not
agree with their employer’s imposition when they voted for strike action
by an overwhelming 80 per cent in our last ballot.
“If BBES prefer to use anti-union laws and imposition, they
will continue to alienate the workforce rather than find a solution to
the issues facing the industry,” added Bernard McAulay
The re-ballot in BBES also follows months of protests by thousands
of rank and file construction workers outside sites up and down the
country, including Sellafield, Grangemouth and Ratcliffe power stations,
Blackfriars and Kings Cross station and Lindsey Oil Refinery.
The timing of the strike days and where the action will take place will be decided by the shop stewards at a later date.
ENDS
For further information please contact Unite communications
officer Liane Groves on 07793 661657 or Unite national officer Bernard
McAulay on 07958 514837.
Notes to news editors:
The seven major break-away contractors currently involved are:
Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Limited; NG Bailey Building
Services; Crown House Technologies; Gratte Brothers; Spie Matthew Hall;
Shepherd Engineering Services (SES); and T. Clarke Plc.
