BMW UK workers set to strike amid pay dispute
More than 600 workers will take strike action during February, March and April over pay.
More than 600 BMW engine plant workers in Birmingham are ready to strike amid an ongoing pay dispute, the Unite union has stated.
The employees look set to take strike action during February, March and April.
The union says that the workers – 90 per cent of whom operate at BMW UK’s Hams Hall factory – are in a dispute after ‘nearly year-long’ negotiations over the company’s 2024 pay increase.
The Hams Hall site creates many engines for both BMW and Mini products, supplying production facilities in Oxford, Germany and Austria.
Unite says that BMW has submitted pay offers towards employees ‘and rescinded them’ with the union claiming that the German manufacturer had offered ‘half of what BMW colleagues in Oxford have received in 2024’.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “BMW’s Hams Hall workforce has had enough of the company’s disgraceful double-dealing over pay. They are sick of being treated as second-class employees and fed up with the company’s broken promises.
“Industrial relations at the site have never been lower. BMW can more than afford to put forward an acceptable offer and that is what needs to happen.”
A spokesperson for BMW told the PA news agency: “We are disappointed that the Hams Hall workforce has rejected the latest pay offer and intends to start industrial action. In light of these developments, the plant will implement contingency measures to minimise the impact of any industrial action on its production process.
“The company has made a fair and considered pay offer and is open to continue constructive negotiations with the Plant Council and Union representatives.”
