Last updated 14:28, Friday, 27 June 2008

Workers at the Sellafield nuclear plant are to be balloted over industrial action after pay talks broke down today.

Negotiations: Sellafield, above. Inset, Unite regional officer Alan Westnedge is disappointed that a ‘realistic’ offer has not been put on the table

The union Prospect rejected a 2% offer in May, describing it as the "worst in living memory".
Following negotiation, a potential 2% efficiency bonus was added, but this was turned down by the union.
Staff will also be consulted about a strike or action short of a strike at two smaller sites in Risley, Warrington and Capenhurst on the Wirral.
Mike Graham, national secretary of Prospect, said: "Our members have always sought to resolve this issue via negotiation, but equally we are not prepared to sell them short.
"After nine intensive days of talks the company has still not been able to table an offer that comes close to our members' expectations.
"We recognise that Sellafield's holding company, British Nuclear Fuels, faces government pressure to hold down pay in advance of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority awarding the clean-up contract to a new parent body organisation.
"But our members should not be expected to tolerate an award that is below the market rate."
Sellafield Ltd can confirm, regretfully, that Prospect and the trade unions have refused to recommend our final offer on pay and conditions. A substantially improved position was made available, if recommendation to accept was forthcoming. However Prospect and the trade unions indicated that they were unable to make that recommendation.
Our final offer therefore was a guaranteed two per cent pay award with a further, realistically achievable, two per cent bonus to be funded by efficiency savings.
The company is understandably disappointed that this offer was not acceptable to Prospect and the trade unions. We feel strongly that the offer was a fair one when taken in the context of the challenging climate in which the business is currently operating.
It has been well documented that there is a significant difference between the funding Sellafield Ltd has received and the budget the company requires in order to complete the proposed schedule of work for 2008/9.
The company has worked hard to reduce that deficit and values the dedication being shown by the workforce during this difficult period.
Despite the best efforts of all concerned the budget remains tight, and two per cent is a figure that the company genuinely feels is a realistic amount to guarantee employees.
The company feel we have allowed the workforce to share in the benefits that we have enjoyed in the past, and pay negotiations in recent years have consistently seen raises in excess of RPI; last year’s settlement was 4.85 per cent on basic pay.
The two per cent bonus element of the company’s offer this year presents, we feel, an opportunity for the workforce to lead the process of making efficiencies and to share in the reward.
In spite of the challenging conditions in which we are operating, the company has given assurances that there will be no enforced redundancies and our workers continue to enjoy generous terms and conditions, including a final salary pension scheme and bonus scheme – which recently paid each member of staff over £1,200.
Safety will remain the company’s number one priority during this time.
We reiterate our disappointment that we have been unable to reach an agreed conclusion despite our best efforts, and remain committed to finding a realistic resolution.