Hinkley workers 'unfair' pay claim leads to action

Employees from Bristol firm Alten, who are working on Hinkley Point C, are taking action over a pay dispute

Workers involved in the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant have started industrial action after claiming they are being paid unfairly.

Employed by the firm Alten - a supplier for EDF's Hinkley Point C - the workers say they have not had a cost of living pay rise in four years.

They walked out of their Bristol office for 24 hours on Tuesday and have now begun action which Prospect Union described as "short of a strike".

Alten said it is "committed to the highest standards of integrity in all operations". EDF said it is investigating the claims, adding it does not tolerate any activities in its supply chain which do not come in line with their values of fairness and equality.

Prospect Union said the workers are providing engineering and designing expertise on key components of Hinkley Point C - the UKs largest energy infrastructure project.

Tuesday was the second day of strike action with the first on 10 October. Workers are now undertaking other forms of action, including withdrawal of goodwill.

'Treated fairly'

Prospect national secretary, Andy Jennings, said: "We do not want to take this action but the employer has refused to give all its workers a cost-of-living pay rise.

"If the employer wants to avoid further action and the potential project delays that would entail then they need to come back to us with an offer which at a minimum enables our members to cope with rising costs."

Alten has about 60 people working on Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C, with 11 people responding to the strike ballot.

There are more than 3,000 engineers working on both projects in total, EDF said.

A spokesperson for EDF added: "The company in question provides services to the UK EPR Engineering function of EDF.

"EDF will investigate these claims and, if they are found to be correct, will take appropriate action."

Prospect Union has also raised concerns over the use of cheap labour on the Hinkley Point C project.

Alten said in response to the union's claims: "Recent news reports regarding Hinkley Point and Sizewell nuclear plant engineers who have gone on strike includes allegations regarding Alten employees.

"Alten would like to stress that these allegations are completely unfounded."

EDF added: "Some of our suppliers do employ people from overseas to complement the UK workforce, to bring specialist skills and expertise from other nuclear projects, however, we expect all workers to be treated fairly and consistently."