Leonardo 'disappointed' as Luton workers strike over pay
Staff at Leonardo in Luton will walk out next month in an ongoing dispute over pay.
More than 3,000 aerospace workers are to strike for four days – including those based at the Capability Green site.
This comes after Unite the union claimed the world-leading defence and aerospace manufacturer Leonardo refused to improve its pay offer of 3.2 per cent. Luton workers will will out on November 5, 6, 12 and 13.
A spokesperson for Leonardo said: “We are disappointed by the decision to take industrial action, but are working with all areas of our business to mitigate any potential disruption to our customers.
“The company has made a very fair and competitive offer that has the potential to pay employees 9.2 per cent over the course of the two year pay deal, representing a package of fixed and variable pay. We remain available to continue constructive discussions with the union to resolve the situation.”
Leonardo is a world-leading manufacturer of defence industry equipment making helicopters, aircraft, aerospace parts, electronics and cybersecurity. Last year, it had revenues of nearly 18 billion euros and profits of over 1.5 billion euros.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Our members are highly skilled and work on critical defence and aerospace systems yet are being short-changed by a company making billions.
"Leonardo has had ample opportunity to do the right thing and make a decent offer that our members could have accepted. Instead they have refused and will now see the anger of our members on the picket line outside their factories. This is a dispute entirely of their making and our members will have the full support of Unite in their fight for decent pay.”
While Unite national officer for aerospace, Rhys McCarthy added: “Leonardo make literally billions in profits but are trying to short-change our members whose skills and expertise they rely on. This simply isn’t acceptable and they will be making their voices heard next month when taking strike action that will see Leonardo’s factories grind to a halt. They need to come back to the negotiating table with an improved offer.