Romanian labourers employed on the construction of a new incinerator have not been paid for two months, trade union Unite has alleged.

Union activists have been holding regular demonstrations at the site gates of the Wilton 11 project, a massive new waste-to-energy plant in Redcar, in protest at foreign workers being employed to undercut collective bargaining agreements.

Activists say two safety reps have been dismissed after raising concern about hazards at the site. The Star could not reach Sita and Sembcorp, the two companies working in partnership on the site, for comment yesterday.

The incinerator was commissioned by the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, which aims to transport 430,000 tonnes of rubbish a year by train to Teesside.

In an attempt to prove that Sita Sembcorp can afford to pay nationally agreed rates to workers, Unite is now asking each of the councils covered by the authority how much they are paying for the project.

The union said pickets had been informed by Romanian workers travelling in that they had received no pay for the past two months.

Tony Seaman, who has been a regular at the Friday morning protests, told the Star that one of the workers had handed round an empty wallet as he paused at the gates.

“They said they haven’t been paid for two months,” he said. “They said they’d come on the gates, but if [they] come on the gates [they’d] be sacked.”

Workers are calling for an emergency meeting to discuss non-payment and for a “forensic audit” of subcontractors working at the site.