Sawmill Strike

Unite members at Enniskillen-based sawmill Balcas have announced strike action starting next week, with the first of three 24-hour strikes on Thursday (June 18).

The Balcas sawmill in Enniskillen is highly profitable, and the industrial action follows a vote by its low-paid workforce that overwhelmingly rejected the insulting pay offer.

Balcas claims to be one of the largest sawmills in the UK and Ireland, and is owned by Longford-based Glennon Brothers – a highly successful timber company which recently acquired the Pontrilas group which operates wood processing sites in Wales.

However the strike will shut down all production of timber at the site.

The latest accounts submitted for Balcas in Northern Ireland [end 2024] show the company had pre-tax profits of £18.7 million on turnover of £130.8 million – a profit margin of almost 15 per cent.

Meanwhile workers at the Enniskillen plant are paid barely above the minimum wage with new entrants being paid at the minimum wage itself.

Despite these profits, workers have only been offered a three per cent pay increase by management, and in the absence of an improved offer from Balcas, the strike will be followed by two further one-day strikes on June 25 and July 2 when the workforce is prepared to escalate the action further.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Balcas is a highly profitable sawmill owned by Glennon Brothers. They can easily afford to pay their workers properly. A paltry increase to workers paid barely above the legal minimum is an insult. The workforce has the full support of Unite in their struggle for respect and fair pay.”

In 2019, Balcas workers took strike action for a week to end a situation where below minimum wage pay had to be topped up by production bonuses. They won a significant uplift at that time but in the intervening period pay increases have failed to keep pace with inflation or the minimum wage.

Unite regional officer Albert Hewitt said, “Work at Balcas is tough and dangerous and our members have decided to go to the gate.

“Strike action will cause severe disruption to Balcas’ customers, but this dispute is entirely of its own making. Management can still avoid this strike or its escalation. They need to return to the negotiating table with a pay offer showing their workers respect.”

The work carried out by the sawmill workers can be dangerous, and in March this year Balcas was fined £87,000 for health and safety breaches after a Unite member had his foot amputated in what was an entirely avoidable accident. 

The fine was imposed after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) that found that limit switches on the plant were not maintained in a safe state and defects regularly arose which prevented the safe running of the equipment.

Unite represents more than 150 hourly-paid workers at what is Northern Ireland’s leading sawmill, who are members of the Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians sector.

National Officer, Adam Oakes, said, “Workers at sawmills, like the one in Enniskillen, do a dangerous job that is vital in providing materials used across the construction industry.

“It is scandalous that a highly profitable company like Balcas feels it can pay its workforce barely the minimum wage, and I would urge them to think on how it values these essential workers, and give them a pay rise that reflects the tough job they do.”

Unless an improved offer is forthcoming, Balcas workers will start their strike action next Thursday.

By Keith Hatch