Strikes suspended at UK munitions plant that supplies missiles to Ukraine

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A two-week strike due to hit a British munitions plant that supplies missiles to Ukraine has been suspended after the Ministry of Defence agreed to talks.

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Published by

17 Aug 2023

Nearly 50 workers at the site at Beith, in Ayrshire, which assembles the Storm Shadow and Brimstone missiles, had been due to walk out for a fortnight next Monday in a long-running row over pay and bonuses.

Strikes by GMB members were the first in the history of Defence Equipment & Support, the MoD agency that handles the military’s supplies, equipment and weapons and runs the Beith site.

It is thought the MoD will table new proposals to improve pay and bonuses for GMB members who carry out “non-craft” roles such as handling and loading the missiles.

Their higher-skilled craft colleagues employed to assemble the weapons, as well as site managers, are thought to be paid up to £18,000 a year more after DE&S increased their salaries to stop them quitting for higher-paid private sector defence jobs.

The two sides will hold talks at the Acas arbitration and conciliation service in an effort to