Army helicopter manufacturer facing staff walkouts in row over pay

Leonardo makes the Wildcat helicopters that are supplied by the British Army - Ministry of Defence

Thousands of workers at a British Army helicopter supplier will strike next month in a row over pay.

Staff at Leonardo, which is one of the largest suppliers of equipment to the Ministry of Defence, have voted to walk out in protest after snubbing a pay offer from bosses.

The strike will involve around 3,000 members of the Unite union in Yeovil, Luton, Basildon, Edinburgh and Newcastle, who will stop work for 11 days in early and mid-November.

Leonardo is part-owned by the Italian government and makes the Wildcat helicopters used by the British Army, as well as the submarine-hunting Merlin helicopters used by the Royal Navy.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, blamed Leonardo’s management for offering staff below-inflation pay increases of 3.2pc for the industrial action.

“Our members are highly skilled and work on critical defence and aerospace systems, yet are being short-changed by a company making billions,” she said.

“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.”

Leonardo’s UK division was formed through a merger of several British companies, including Marconi and Westland Aircraft. The group is headquartered in Italy and is one of Europe’s major defence suppliers alongside BAE Systems and Dassault.

Rhys McCarthy, Unite national officer for aerospace, said: “Leonardo makes 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.”

The dispute comes as British workers face up to stubbornly high rates of inflation eroding their earnings, with the rate hitting 4.1pc in the year to September. The UK is expected to have the highest inflation in the G7 this year and next.

According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, average wage increases, including bonuses, are rising at 5pc.

A Leonardo spokesman 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 9.2pc 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.”

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