黑洞社区

Electrical workers at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services have voted for official strike action.

Unite members at the contractor鈥檚 mechanical and electrical division voted 81% in favour of strike action with 360 voting 鈥榶es鈥� and 81 鈥榥o鈥�.

A spokesperson for the union said it did not intend to publish turnout figures for 鈥渟trategic reasons鈥� but said it had a sufficient mandate to stage a strike.

Unite national officer, Bernard McAulay, said it was a 鈥渞esounding result鈥�. He said: 鈥淏alfour Beatty Engineering Services need to recognise they do not have the support of their employees.

鈥淯nite therefore calls on Balfour Beatty to immediately engage in discussion with the union to find a sensible solution to this dispute.鈥�

Eight of the industry鈥檚 largest electrical contractors 鈥� including Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey 鈥� have been hit by protests over the past three months, after they agreed to ditch a 40-year-old wage agreement between employers and workers in favour of drawing up a new agreement.

The union will now ballot workers at two of the other breakaway electrical contractors

Unite will be announcing dates for the Balfour Beatty strike action in 鈥渄ue course.鈥�

Blane Judd, chief executive of the HVCA, which has drawn up a proposed new wage agreement for electrical workers with contractors, said: 鈥淯nite鈥檚 strike mandate was achieved through the use of misleading and unjustified scare tactics.

鈥淲e hope that Balfour Beatty鈥檚 workers will communicate with their employer to get the facts about the proposed 黑洞社区 Engineering Services National Agreement (BESNA) before deciding to strike.

鈥淗owever, it鈥檚 important to remember that the other six companies supporting the BESNA are not affected by this action and are proceeding with their employee consultations.

鈥淲e remain confident that the new agreement is the best way to secure jobs, develop skills and compete effectively against foreign firms.鈥�