Dounreay workers vote to strike
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Workers at Dounreay nuclear power complex have voted to strike after long-running pay talks stalled.
Members of GMB Scotland overwhelmingly backed industrial action including strikes, working to rule, and an overtime ban after a pay offer was rejected.
A strike ballot with 85 per cent turnout revealed a crushing majority of GMB members backed industrial action after more than a year of talks with management at the Caithness site failed to find an agreement. Other unions, Unite and Prospect, are also balloting members.
Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in public services, said 85 per cent of members voting had backed industrial action and have waited too long for a fair offer.
He said a 4.5 per cent offer backdated to April 2023 was unacceptable when it covered 12 months when inflation was running above 11 per cent during a cost of living crisis.
Greenaway said: “Given the economic situation, our members have not been offered a pay rise at all but a real terms pay cut.
“Managers insist they are bound by civil service rules but apparently can pick and choose which rules to follow. They seem far more relaxed when it comes to their own pay, for example.”
Dounreay joined Magnox Ltd last year and then became part of Nuclear Restoration Services, which is responsible for the clean-up of the Caithness site and 11 others across the UK.
Magnox, currently trading as Nuclear Restoration Services, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The site is due to be cleaned up by 2033.
GMB Scotland members work in a wide range of roles across the plant and Lesley-Anne MacAskill, the union's organiser in the Highlands, said they need a fair offer not more negotiations.
She added: “For more than a year, our members have heard plenty of warm words and excuses but excuses do not pay their bills.
“They need a fair pay offer and the overwhelming support for industrial action revealed in this ballot clearly shows they will do whatever is necessary to secure one.”
