SOMERSET-BASED workers at a leading defence and aerospace company have rejected a new pay offer amid ongoing strike action.
Unite says more than 3000 workers at Leonardo UK’s facilities in Scotland and England will walk out after the company refused to improve its pay offer. This includes workers in Yeovil, Somerset.
The company is involved in a number of defence projects, with its site in Edinburgh producing advanced radars for military aircraft.
READ MORE: Yeovil workers at Leonardo UK reject pay offer
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Strike action was set to take place on November 5 last week, with Unite members at factories across Yeovil, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Basildon, and Luton due to walk out in a row over pay after a below-inflation pay offer infuriated staff.
Now, Members of the Unite union are demanding that the company return to the negotiating table and make a further revised offer.
Unite union members rejected an original pay offer of 3.2 per cent and have now rejected a further offer of 3.6 per cent from the employer.
Both offers are below the RPI rate of inflation, which is running at 4.5 per cent, and therefore the union believe that the pay offers represent a real-terms pay cut for workers.
Leonardo said they are "disappointed" the pay offer was not "positively received".
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Leonardo workers are highly skilled and work on critical defence and aerospace systems yet are being short-changed by a company making billions.
"Leonardo continues to try and penny-pinch rather than make a sensible offer workers can accept. Our members have the full support of Unite in their fight for decent pay.”
Due to continued strike action, Unite union members will strike at all Leonardo sites on November 12 and 13. Union members at the Yeovil site will again strike from November 25 to November 28.
In 2024, Leonardo had revenues of nearly 18billion euros and profits of over 1.5billion euros. If the company fails to make an improved offer, then a further escalation in industrial action is likely, according to the Unite Union.
Unite national officer for aerospace, Rhys McCarthy, said: “Leonardo will now see the anger of its workers on the picket line outside its factories. But this is a dispute entirely of its own making.
"The company needs to come back to the negotiating table with a proper offer our members can accept.”
A Leonardo spokesperson said: “We are obviously disappointed that the revised pay offer negotiated by Senior Unite Representatives and supported by full time Unite officials on behalf of Leonardo members has not been positively received by the membership.
"Strike action is now inevitable for our Leonardo UK Basildon, Edinburgh, Luton, Newcastle and Yeovil sites. We have taken all steps possible to minimise disruption to our business and our customers. We would welcome Unite back to the table in a bid to reach a resolution.”
The original pay offer in full was: 3.2 per cent in Year 1 and 3 per cent in Year 2, with a potential RPI trigger to 4 per cent.
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