Unions in last-ditch talks over power station strikes

An eleventh-hour attempt to halt strikes on seven power stations across the country will be made today, as unions prepare to meet with employers.

The Engineering Construction Industry Association will meet with the GMB and Unite this morning, just hours before the GMB announces the results of its members’ ballot on whether to go through with the industrial action.

It is understood that the unions’ joint negotiating committee will also be present, which has the power to stop the strikes if a compromise can be achieved.

Seven topics are believed to be under discussion, including a pay rise for workers in 2010 and a clause to give guarantees on the use of local labour.

The closing date of the Unite vote will be later this month, but the GMB, which sent its ballot papers out earlier, confirmed that it would announce its result on Friday afternoon, depending on the outcome of the morning’s meeting.

A senior union source described the ballot as a “formality” and said he was certain official industrial action would be approved.

Seven sites are due to be targeted, including Alstom’s sites at Staythorpe and Sellafield. Unions previously claimed that further strikes could affect the Olympics and Crossrail later in the year if an agreement was not reached.