MAINTENANCE and cleaning workers based at Airbus’ sites in Broughton and Filton, Bristol will strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Monday, September 2).
Around 140 workers employed by facilities management contractor CBRE are angry at offers for 2023/2024 from the company.
Unite said strike action will severely impact cleaning and maintenance at both sites and cause disruption to Airbus’ operations.
The union said many of the workers are currently on the national living wage and have only been offered a "measly increase" to ensure they are paid the legal minimum.
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Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “CBRE makes huge profits but thinks it is ok to pay its workers poverty wages. This is pure corporate greed. CBRE can more than afford to put forward a fair pay offer.
"CBRE’s workforce at Airbus’ Broughton and Filton sites have their union’s absolute support in taking strike action.”
CBRE Managed Service Limited latest financial accounts state the company made after tax profits of £35.9 million in the year ending December 2022.
The Broughton and Filton workers will strike on September 6,7,9 and 10. Industrial action will escalate if the dispute is not resolved, Unite said.
Unite regional officer Jono Davies said: “Airbus will not be happy that CBRE’s greed is causing disruptions to its Broughton and Filton operations. Industrial action can be avoided but that will require an acceptable offer being put forward by CBRE.”
A CBRE spokesperson said: "The action taking place involves a relatively small number of CBRE Global Workplace Solutions (GWS) employees who deliver services at Airbus’s Broughton and Filton sites.
"Our employees' welfare and safety is always our main priority, and we are actively working towards resolution.
"We have robust plans in place to ensure there is no impact to Airbus’s operations."
An Airbus spokesperson said: "We have been advised that members of the Unite Union working for CBRE at our sites in Broughton and Filton have voted in favour of strike action.
"Airbus employees are not involved in the strike and we are working to ensure business continuity through this period."
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