Unite members at Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) have voted for a second time to strike over pay and conditions.

Electricians, plumbers and heating and ventilating engineers voted by two to one for strike action, which Unite say could hit high profile projects and sites such as Crossrail, Sellafield and Grangemouth.  

Unite national officer, Bernard McAulay, said: “This high 'yes' vote for strike action indicates the resentment felt by our members. They are enraged over the use of bully-boy tactics used to try and usher in an era of de-skilling across the sector as well as massive pay cuts. 

“Balfour Beatty needs to recognise it has lost the support of its employees. They need to re-join the industry wide agreements which have served the industry so well. Our members know that Balfour Beatty is a vastly profitable company and that it has no need whatsoever to rob them of their livelihoods so that it can increase its profits.”

BBES says that only 295 BBES staff and operative employees, out of a workforce of 3,063, voted in favour of strike action, and that it is working to modernise the industry and become more competitive.  

Unite have given an undertaking to the court that it will not call for industrial action until after the outcome of next Tuesday’s (7 February) court hearing. The hearing follows a legal challenge by BBES to restrain Unite from acting on the outcome of the ballot on the grounds of fundamental deficiencies.