A worker who has been temporarily laid off by his firm after he went on strike at the Sellafield site claimed his union had sold members a lie.
Workers of subcontractors based at the West Cumbrian nuclear complex began industrial action on September 15.
They are members of the Unite union and are demanding that they are paid a site-specific allowance, which the union claims is paid at other nuclear sites.
One of the workers represented by Unite told Cumbria Crack that he was among those who have lost their job and he felt the union only cared about its scaffolding members – and not other tradespeople.
The worker, who has asked to remain anonymous, claimed scaffolders were getting the equivalent of a full pay packet while they were on strike – paid for by the union – while the rest of the strikers were getting a small amount from its strike fund.
Unite said it was its policy not to comment on strike pay.
He said: “Employers emailed Unite to ask about plans after Christmas so all employers can look to arrange the release of passes. Unite have basically responded that they aren’t willing to update any plans, but will just give the required notification of any further action.
“This being when all are on Christmas break and it will likely result in us less fortunate employees again having further time without pay on temporary lay-off.
“Unite need to be honest with the public and members, as we’ve been sold a lie here for past six months.”
Unite said it regularly met with members and kept them abreast of all planned actions.
Cumbria Crack sent Unite all the member’s comments and asked it to respond, but it declined to answer specific questions.
It instead told us that industrial action would take place from Monday, December 15 until Friday December 19.
It said workers from five subcontractors – Altrad, Enigma, Kaefer, Stobbarts Limited and Design Grid – will walk out.
Earlier this week, the Engineering Construction Industry Association confirmed that the firms were working on projects affected by industrial action taken by Unite members at the site.
An association spokesman said: “Some of our member companies working on projects affected by Unite’s industrial action at Sellafield, have been compelled to temporarily lay off some of their employees, owing to a shortage of work.
“They are disappointed to have to take this decision. All reasonable steps have been taken to avoid this outcome.
“We sincerely hope these valued individuals can return to work soon.”
Sellafield Ltd, which runs the site, is not involved in the dispute. It is a pay dispute between individual employers on the site and their staff.
A Sellafield Ltd spokesman said: “We can confirm the affected employers have shared their plans with us. While regrettable, we understand the reasons behind them.”
Industrial action is continuing this week and is scheduled to run from next Monday, December 15 for another week.
The industrial action is covered by conditions from Cumbria police under the Public Order Act.
Marches must not start before 7am and conclude by 10am.
Any marches from Calder Bridge to North Gate must start after the turn-off to Sella Park Hotel so that their business access can be maintained.
Sellafield Ltd said in an update to all staff that there was no planned action for the week starting December 22.
It added: “Legally, Unite must give 14 days notice ahead of any planned industrial action, and that deadline has now passed for this period.
“However, we cannot provide clarity at this stage on the weeks starting December 29 or January 5 2026, as the required pre-notice period for those dates has not yet expired.”
Previously, marches had been taking up to six hours as striking workers walked really slowly – dubbed the Sellafield shuffle.
Cumbria Crack has asked Unite about the progress in pay discussions, but last week a Unite spokesman declined to comment, adding: “I don’t think we have anything further to say at this point.”
In its statement this week, it said: “Unite has made clear, repeatedly and publicly, that we are willing to use ACAS at any point if the employers genuinely wish to resolve the dispute. That offer has been on the table from day one.”
It told us today that it had offered ACAS talks twice, but claimed the offers had been ignored, although Cumbria Crack could not verify this claim.
Companies involved in the dispute are Altrad Services; Amentum Clean Energy; Amentum Enterprise Asset Solutions; AVRS Systems; Balfour Beatty; Careys; DSD; Design Grid; Enigma; Erith; ES Steel Ltd; Flannery; Impwood; Kaefer; Keltbray; Kier; LEL Nuclear; Mammoet; Meldrum; Mitie FM Ltd; Mitie Ltd; Morgan Sindall; NG Bailey; NRL; Nuvia; PC Richardson; PPS Electrical; Rhodar; Shepley; Sir Robert McAlpine; VGC Group; William King; G&M Lawson Ltd; Athena; Stobbarts Ltd and FB Taylor (Cable Contractors) Ltd.
It has not been revealed which of the firms have laid off their staff. Unite does name them in its statement but Cumbria Crack could not verify the companies involved.
Unite also declined to answer any of our questions asking about its future plans for industrial action, any offers made by employers, how many workers in total had been laid off and declined to expand on claims that local MPs had stayed silent, the Engineering Construction Industry Association had inserted itself into matters outside of its remit and if it felt its members were well supported by the community.
