Cleaners employed by contractor Mitie at the Sellafield site are set to strike over pay.
Members of the GMB union are voting over taking industrial action after they claim that bosses promised them an offer at the beginning of this month – but have so far heard nothing.
More than 300 workers are employed by Mitie at the nuclear power plant.
The strike ballot closes on Thursday, December 8.
Oli Slack, GMB organiser, said: “Sellafield’s cleaners do a difficult, sometimes dirty job keeping this huge nuclear site running smoothly.
“Bosses promised them a pay offer at the beginning of November to help with the devastating cost of living crisis.
“But so far they’ve had nothing and workers are angry. Mitie needs to get something on the table sharpish to nip any strike in the bud.”
A Mitie spokesman said: “We’re disappointed that GMB is considering a ballot for industrial action given that annual pay talks are ongoing.
“We recently announced a £10 million winter support package, designed to help the lowest paid colleagues across Mitie with the rising cost of living. This is in addition to annual pay talks at Sellafield and we continue discussions around how we can further support our frontline colleagues.
“As always, our priority is to ensure that services are delivered, sites remain secure and there is no disruption should strike action occur in the future.”
Mitie said the winter support package’s initiatives over the next few months will include:
- November: Launching a new £1,000 cycle to work scheme, which for the first time includes all workers. This wasn’t available before, Mitie said, due to HMRC rules and Minimum Wage rules.
- December: Gifting a £50 e-voucher through its internal deals portal, and can be used at over 100 retailers including Boots, Asda, Tesco and Argos. This is for colleagues earning up to £30,000.
- January: One-off bonus of up to £125. The amount depends on the number of hours worked a week and is for workers earning up to £30,000.
- March: Gifting free shares for all workers for the third year. Mitie said shares have risen by 25 per cent in that time.
