A LONG-running pay dispute at the GE Steam plant in Rugby has ended after a pay deal was agreed.
More than 75 members of trade union Unite who work at the 125-year-old Newbold Road site had been taking intermittent strike action since February over flexible working payments and other financial issues.
The dispute was settled after the company agreed to provide one-off payments amounting to £15,600 for each worker.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members at GE Steam stood on the picket line for months, and their determination and solidarity paid off with this significant pay deal.
“This great result is yet another reminder that Unite’s absolute focus on improving jobs, pay and conditions is winning for our members.”
Unite regional officer Zoe Mayou said: “By standing together in their union, our members forced the company back into negotiations and secured this well-deserved deal.
“This victory shows that those wishing to improve their wages and working lives should join Unite and get their colleagues to do the same.”
A GE spokesperson said: “GE Steam Power is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unite the Union that is in the best interest of both employees and the business. We look forward to working with our employees to continue delivering value for our customers.”
The site, which was founded in 1897, manufactures and repairs industrial plant steam turbine equipment, including for use on the UK’s nuclear submarines.
Unite said the strikes, the first at the factory in 45 years, were over ‘the expectation that workers would take on new roles without extra pay’.
In May, the union told The Observer the relationship between workers and management had become ‘increasingly strained’ over pay, redundancies, ‘attacks on pensions’ and cuts to death-in-service benefits since GE Steam Power bought the site 11 years ago.
As well as halting production, the strikes also disrupted the site’s repair and refurbishment service for steam rotating equipment.
