HTC crane drivers agree three days of strike action that will disrupt major sites including Network Rail鈥檚 London bridge redevelopment
Major construction sites, including Network Rail鈥檚 London Bridge development and Land Securities massive scheme in Victoria are set to face disruption after crane drivers agreed three days of strike action.
Ucatt, the construction union, said today that following the overwhelming vote in favour of strike action last week by crane operators at HTC Plant, three 24 hour stoppages had now been agreed for successive Fridays.
The union said the strikes would take place on 7,14 and 21 November.
鈥淒ue to how construction sites operate this is set to cause a huge amount of disruption,鈥� Ucatt said.
It is understood that all sites where there are HTC Ucatt members employed could be affected by the action, with the union saying these include Land Securities鈥� Nova Victoria scheme, where Mace is the main contractor; Mace鈥檚 South Bank Tower project (pictured); Network Rail鈥檚 London Bridge station redevelopment; Lend Lease鈥檚 Elephant & Castle scheme; as well as the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston.
The union said the action could affect a number of other major contractors including Kier, Bam, Costain, and Vinci.
Ucatt also said some Crossrail sites could be affected, although Crossrail said HTC had a 鈥渧ery limited鈥� presence on the 拢15bn London rail project, with HTC only working on 鈥渙ne or two sites鈥�.
A Crossrail spokesperson said: 鈥淧roposed strike action by crane drivers employed by HTC Plant is not expected to have any impact on Crossrail鈥檚 construction as HTC鈥檚 presence on the Crossrail project is currently limited.鈥�
Steve Murphy, General Secretary of construction union UCATT, said: 鈥淐onstruction sites are facing massive disruption because HTC have failed to make a realistic pay offer to our members.鈥�
Last week Ucatt said more than 180 HTC crane drivers voted 94% in favour of strike action and 94.6% in favour of industrial action short of strike action.
The crane operators want HTC to restore pay in real terms to pre-recession levels, but to date HTC has not made a pay offer that meets Ucatt members鈥� expectations.
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