WORKERS at two nuclear sites who maintain the Trident missile are set to walk out on strike later this month in a long-running dispute over changes to their pension scheme.

Their union Unite has warned that if bosses refuse to get round the table to negotiate, the strikes will cause major delays to the Trident programme.

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail has written to Defence Secretary Michael Fallon demanding an urgent meeting to resolve the long-running pensions dispute with their “betrayed workers.”

The 600 workers from AWE sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire plan to walk out on Tuesdays February 14 and 21.

The strike revolves around plans by AWE bosses to close the current defined benefit pension scheme, a move which Unite claims will see workers face an uncertain future, losing thousands as they rely on “the vagaries of the stock market.”

Unite members are “furious” at broken promises including a ministerial statement to the Commons which guaranteed pension security as defence workers transferred from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to the private sector.

Ms Cartmail said in her letter: “Many of our members have given decades of service to AWE and without their skill and professionalism the Trident programme would not have been delivered.”

She said that Unite members work on MoD sites delivering MoD contracts, suggesting allowing membership of the Civil Service pension scheme could be a solution.

“They still feel part of the MoD providing an invaluable service for the UK, working with hazardous materials, producing and assembling the Trident nuclear warheads which is why they feel so strongly about this second-class treatment.”

We need your support to keep running. If you like what you read please donate by clicking here