Cadent workers will stage a 48-hour walk-out at the end of May in a dispute over pay, the GMB Union has confirmed.
Last month, field workers voted to walk out in a strike ballot after rejecting a 2% pay increase for 2021 and 4% from July this year.
However, earlier this month the union revealed workers it represents were initially participating in a ban on overtime, rather than a full on strike, as a “gesture of goodwill”.
GMB said “thousands” of workers were taking part in the ban. Out of more than 1,900 eligible voters, nearly 1,300 GMB members took part in the union’s ballot on industrial action last month. Of those, almost 87% voted in favour of strike action and nearly 91% voted in favour of action short of a strike. Cadent has a field workforce of more than 2,500 in total.
In a further update on Thursday (19 May), GMB claimed around 2,000 of its members will down tools on 30 and 31 May.
“With inflation running at 11.1%, the deal amounts to a massive real terms pay cut,” GMB said.
Gary Carter, GMB national officer, said Cadent is “out of touch” with its workers and with the cost-of-living crisis.
He added: “GMB members have had enough. They are determined to stick together and fight for what’s right. They deserve better pay.
“In recent years Cadent has cut the pay of new starters, who can’t survive on such low pay.
“Bosses are trumpeting they’ve raised rates to £10 per hour – but that’s nothing to be proud of. It’s poor pay, for skilled work.”
Martin Rimmer, chief of people at Cadent, said around two thirds of Cadent’s workforce had agreed to the pay increase.
He added: “Whilst the GMB has concentrated on asking for a higher pay increase, more than the 6.08% pay increase over two years that we have offered, they have not taken into consideration the whole pay package. Especially the pay increase to our lowest paid colleagues to a minimum of £10 per hour, ensuring that they are paid above the Real Living wage.
“We also gave a £750 lump sum payment to our field force and have offered significant changes to the terms and conditions of some contracts based on colleagues’ feedback.
“We believe in fair and decent pay. In 2021, on average our operational field force colleagues earned over £44,500, with our qualified engineers earning over £47,000. Had the pay offer been accepted, based on our 2021 information, qualified engineers would earn on average over £50,000.”