BAE Systems loses court bid to halt strikes

Defence giant BAE Systems has lost a High Court bid to stop staff from taking strike action at its Lancashire planemaking plants.

Members of the Unite union at the Warton and Samlesbury operations voted to strike after rejecting a 3.6 per cent pay offer.

Around 400 union members, including manufacturing and quality control workers, walked out on Wednesday, with the strike due to last until November 25.

BAE Systems applied to the court for an injunction to block the action, but it was rejected by Judge Michael Soole on Thursday. The judge said he would give his reasons at a later date.

Speaking after the ruling, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This unsuccessful attempt by BAE to prevent a lawful strike will have severely damaged the goodwill it has with its workforce.

“BAE is a multi-billion pound company making record profits. It now needs to come back to the negotiating table with an acceptable offer for striking workers in its Air division, rather than wasting money on pointless legal threats.

“Otherwise, our members will be taking strike action throughout November in their fight for fair pay.”

BAE Systems is reported to be considering an appeal. A spokesperson said: “We note the ruling by the High Court. We believe we had good grounds for the legal challenge and will consider the court’s judgment.

“We respect the right of employees to engage in industrial action and remain committed to a partnership approach with all our trade union groups.”

Union leaders have warned that the strikes will “cripple production” and bring both sites to a standstill.

The dispute centres on a below inflation 3.6 per cent deal, which union bosses say “represents a real-terms pay cut” for professional services workers, including engineers.

The union says that the staff involved are also “furious” that it is below a pay offer made and accepted by shop floor workers, who it says received 4.5 per cent and an additional day of annual leave.

Speaking before the first walk-out, Unite regional officer Ross Quinn added: “Staff have shown the level of their anger by voting overwhelmingly for strike action and will now bring BAE’s operations at two major factories to a standstill.

“The current pay offer is utterly unacceptable and BAE needs to come back to the table with an improved offer that our members can accept if they don’t want to see workers on strike.”

In addition to strike action, all balloted members of Unite at the two sites will stop working overtime, no longer travel off-site, cease any additional training and withdraw from any voluntary roles.

In a statement before the action, a BAE Systems spokesperson said: “We believe the company’s offer, which includes enhancements to pay and pensions and has been accepted by all 18 of the other Unite bargaining groups in our UK business, is fair and ensures that our employees will continue to receive market-leading pay and reward, while balancing our need to be competitive and affordable for our customers.

“The 416 employees choosing to take action make up less than 3.5 per cent of the workforce across our Warton and Samlesbury sites, and this population have received a 25 per cent rise in pay since 2019.

“We are really disappointed that this small group and Unite are attempting to disrupt the critical work we do for customers; we are determined to continue to deliver despite those efforts.”