BAE Systems engineers to walk out over pay

Hundreds of BAE workers across two Lancashire sites are set to strike

Hundreds of aerospace engineers working for a major defence company are set to walk out in a row over pay.

The Unite union said its 5,000 members working for BAE Systems at sites in Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire had voted to strike after rejecting a pay offer of 3.6%.

About 400 members from four sections of the company, including manufacturing and quality control, will take the first of the planned strike action from 5 to 25 November, it said.

BAE Systems said the pay offer was fair and had been accepted by all 18 of the union's bargaining groups in the UK.

A spokesperson for the firm said: "The 416 employees choosing to take action make up less than 3.5% of the workforce across our Warton and Samlesbury sites and this population have received a 25% rise in pay since 2019.

"We are determined to continue to deliver despite those efforts."

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said workers had rejected the below inflation offer a it represented a "real-terms pay cut".

"BAE Systems is one of the world's biggest defence manufacturers and made billions in profit last year," she said.

"This is completely unacceptable and Unite will be backing our members in their dispute until BAE Systems comes to its senses."

The workers are also set to stop working overtime, travelling off-site, doing additional training or any voluntary roles.