Update: Cammell Laird Strike Averted

GMB members at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead  have voted to accept an improved pay offer and have called off the dispute in the yard over pay. The new agreement will cover the next three years and will provide the workforce with a guaranteed increase in their pay rates says GMB.

Albie McGuigan, GMB Regional Officer, said: ”There were talks on Friday, September 12 with senior management where we were able to negotiate an improved offer to take back to the workforce.

There was a mass meeting of the workforce in the yard to discuss the improved offer. This was accepted by a huge majority.

The agreement will cover the next three years and will provide the workforce with a guaranteed increase in their pay rates.

The pay dispute has been settled and the strike action due next week has been called off.”

On September 4, some 560 workers at Cammell Laird shipyard voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay. The ballot result had been conveyed to the company and they were given notice shortly that action short of a strike would begin on Thursday, September 11.

Cammell Laird specialises in military ship refit, commercial ship repair, conversions and shipbuilding.

One big project in the yard is a refit job on the Royal Navy ship Fort Victoria with a delivery date in December. The company also operates in energy sector in particular the off shore wind industry and in the civil nuclear sector.