Workers at shipyard go on strike

Workers at a north Devon shipyard have gone on strike in a dispute over pay.

Staff at Appledore are demanding the same rates of pay from Babcock Marine as employees at the company's other sites, including Devonport in Plymouth.

The walkout, which began at midnight, is the first in a series of stoppages planned by union members.

According to the GMB and Unite unions, which represent the 200 workers, new proposals from managers on Thursday received a "categorical rejection".

'Second-class citizen'

One of the strikers, Mike Guppy, said: "Why should somebody be paid 60 miles away �65 to �75 more a week than we are?

"You can't seem to get the pride into it if you feel you are being treated like a second-class citizen."

Stuart Fegan, GMB trade union spokesman, said: "The South West has got a low-wage economy but what you've got here is a very highly-skilled shipyard that has got skills which, quite frankly, other parts of the country don't have.

"So, effectively, rather than talk down north Devon as a low-wage economy, we are talking about a shipyard that's got those skills and the ability to do this level of work."

Aircraft carriers

Babcock Marine has declined to comment about the strike, which has seen scores of workers spending the day on the picket line brandishing banners.

Workers at the shipyard are in line to help build hull sections for two of the UK's next generation of aircraft carriers.

The vessels, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will be the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy, nearly three times the size of the current Invincible-class carriers.

They are expected to be completed between 2014 and 2016.

Babcock, which is part of the UK Aircraft Carrier Alliance, secured the deal for the carriers in July 2007.

The Appledore work came out of Babcock's takeover of the Devonport yard from previous owner DML the month before.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version