Engineering workers at Balfour Beatty will take three 36 hour strikes in March after rejecting the company’s offer of a 5.5pc increase
Over 100 Balfour Beatty workers will take the strike action after rejecting the company’s offer of 5.5pc increase in pay from April 2022.
The ballot of 109 RMT workers saw 68 vote for strike action, meeting the required threshold for strike action to be valid.
36-hour stoppages will take place on the following days:
- 10pm on Friday 3rd March to 10am on Sunday 5th March 2023
- 10pm on Friday 10th March to 10am on Sunday 12th March 2023
- 10pm on Friday 17th March to 10am on Sunday 19th March 2023
The news follows further strikes announced by RMT in March and April
The union’s 40,000 members across Network Rail and 14 train operators have announced they will strike on 16 March. Train staff will also stop work for three further days, on 18 and 30 March and 1 April.
The RMT’s Network Rail members will also start an overtime ban lasting a total of six weeks in maintenance and operations, which the union warned would be disruptive to rail services.
The Balfour Beatty workers strike is in response to the cost-of-living crisis
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “These highly skilled workers have had enough of not been offered a decent wage rise.
“The cost-of-living crisis has affected all workers and our members are not prepared to pay the price while the company enjoy huge revenues.
“Balfour Beatty is a highly profitable company and they need to use some of their excess wealth to reward their workers properly.”
Balfour Beatty made over £8bn in revenue in 2022 and was in the top ten most profitable UK construction companies, per Glenigan.
A Balfour Beatty spokesperson said: “We remain committed to working closely with the RMT Union to reach an appropriate outcome.
“However, as these discussions remain ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
