Aerospace action

Hundreds of GKN Aerospace workers braved sweltering temperatures on a picket line in Filton yesterday (27 May) to tell bosses at the world-leading aerospace supplier to pay up.

Around 900 Unite members at the Filton factory had walked out this week in a fight over fair pay after receiving a below inflation pay offer – while the CEO makes millions.

GKN is a supplier of airframe and engine structures, electrical wiring and landing gear, with a presence on 90 per cent of today’s aircraft. Around 900 workers at the Filton site in South Gloucestershire make wings for the Airbus A320.

For years workers at GKN have seen their pay fall behind that of other nearby aerospace firms like Airbus and Rolls Royce that has seen many employees leave in search of better pay. GKN has offered just a 3.3 per cent increase.

The highly skilled Unite members have exhausted all avenues of negotiation and are now striking as a last resort, heading to the picket line from Tuesday 26 May. Unless an improved offer is forthcoming they will stay on strike until Monday 1 June.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham joined striking workers on the picket line and said: “GKN’s parent company CEO got the biggest bonus of any major company, yet it still sees fit to try and short-change our members.

“GKN needs to understand that Unite will not allow such profiteering on the backs of workers. GKN is hugely profitable and can easily afford a proper pay rise for these highly skilled and valuable aerospace workers.”

Peter Dilnot the CEO of Melrose industries (GKN’s parent company) received an eye watering £45.4 million bonus for the 2024 financial year, the single biggest bonus in the FTSE 100 list of directors, with a total compensation of 1,112 times more than the average Melrose/GKN worker’s salary.

In April 2025, nearly two-thirds of Melrose shareholders voted against the directors’ remuneration report in an advisory vote, labelling the payouts excessive.

Unite regional officer Shevaun Hunt said: “Our members are fed up with their pay being chipped away year after year and outpaced by other nearby companies. They just want a decent pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living crisis.

“Yet GKN claims there is no money while paying its directors millions in salary and bonuses. It is a disgrace and now it will see its factory grind to a halt. Unite will fully support our members, for as long as it takes to get an improved deal, as they head to the picket line.”

Strike action continues, keep up to date with Unite Live for all the latest news.

By Keith Hatch