Heathrow Terminal 5 contractor Laing O’Rourke has taken the first step in a legal tussle to stop civil engineering workers taking strike action over pay.

This follows successful strikes by the M&E and steel sectors on the site, carried out in support of demands for a £1-an-hour bonus. Laing O’Rourke has now written to unions challenging the validity of ballots, a move that it is believed could lead to the firm trying to obtain an injunction.

Laing O’Rourke claims the ballots organised by the T&G, UCATT and the GMB have not complied with industrial relations legislation because they failed to list in sufficient detail the composition of the workforce, as required by the law, making it impossible for the contractor to make contingency arrangements in case of a strike.

Union leaders admitted they would not be able to comply with all the demands, but responded that some of the requests for information were themselves illegal.

Tom Kelly, the GMB’s regional officer, said: “Laing O’Rourke hasn’t yet served an injunction, but it has begun a process. It wants further information on the breakdown of workers, but at the present time we feel we have given it all we have.”

Another union source said: “If Laing O’Rourke responds with an injunction, it will be hell. We are meeting our lawyers this week.”

Unions say it is difficult to provide the information required by Laing O’Rourke because workers are frequently moved around the project, making it virtually impossible to give exact information on their role at any one time.

If Laing O’Rourke responds with an injunction, it will be hell

Union source

A spokesperson for Laing O’Rourke said: “Laing O’Rourke remains hopeful that this matter will be resolved amicably.”

n The Engineering Construction Industry Association has withdrawn the “blue book” agreement on steelworkers’ pay and conditions from T5 in the wake of the granting of the £1-an-hour bonus.

The decision, which follows a similar action at Wembley, means the steelworkers will not be able to use the blue book dispute procedure, and will have to resort to more complicated Acas arbitration to resolve future conflicts.

BAA is launching training sessions for site supervisors to crack down on bullying on the site, after a survey showed 1 in 10 workers thought bullying was a problem.