Workers at power stations in Scotland, UK have begun what looks set to be a series of weekly strikes over wages.
Members of the Amicus union working at Hunterston nuclear power stations A&B have begun taking strike action due to the removal of a 50 pence per hour enhancement that had been in place for 30 years.
The 40 employees of Balfour Kilpatrick began the strike on September 12, 2006 and plan to go on strike each consecutive Tuesday and Wednesday.
The electricians are taking this action because three months ago Balfour Kilpatrick informed their workforce they would terminate an agreement with Amicus which had been in place for more than 30 years. This will mean the removal of the 50 pence per hour enhancement from all employee’s hourly rates.
According to the trade union, the national disputes procedure has been exhausted and, despite continued attempts by Amicus to resolve this, including approaches to clients, British Energy and British Nuclear Group, the issue has remained unresolved.
Amicus nuclear power station workers in Scotland are not prepared to see their wages cut. Particularly when there is GBP42 billion of nuclear decommissioning work to be done across the UK with a significant proportion of it taking place in Scotland, commented John Quigley, Amicus’ Scottish regional secretary.