Today's top stories...Fawley refinery bonus win

Unite has secured an agreement that ensures that all construction workers operating at the Fawley oil refinery in Hampshire will receive bonus payments.

From September 1 just over 300 Unite members, covered by the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) will receive a £1.63 hourly bonus payment. This was awarded after Unite members, alongside colleagues from the GMB, staged a series of strikes at Fawley late last year.

In order to maintain harmony and prevent division on the site, Unite has also secured the same £1.63 an hour bonus payment to be paid to over 100 workers operating under the civils engineering agreement at the refinery. This will also be paid from September 1.

In addition, a further eight workers who are not part of either agreement will get the payment.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “The bonus payment deal at Fawley is an excellent example of how Unite’s focus on jobs, pay and conditions is having a direct financial benefit for our members.”

The current agreement is for the bonus to be paid for four months until the end of December but Unite’s reps are already preparing to mount a campaign to maintain the payments for a longer period.

Akzo Nobel workers in Gateshead announce further strikes over pay

Paint workers at International Paints (parent company Akzo Nobel) in Gateshead have announced additional strike days over pay.

Shortages of paints will hit industry and consumers as over 200 workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have voted for additional strike action after rejecting a pay offer of 4.8 per cent. This is a substantial, real terms, pay cut with the true inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 9 per cent and which has been as high as 11.3 per cent during the dispute.

International Paints has failed to come to the negotiating table in good faith with an improved offer and, in addition, has also threatened to call the police on lawful picket line protests outside its building.

The workers, who are based at the Stoneygate Lane factory, produce specialist paints, which are used on ships and offshore facilities, as well as producing the polymer that is used in most Akzo Nobel’s paint brands, including Dulux.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Our members at International Paints will not be intimidated and they will not back down in the face of empty threats. There is a real cost-of-living crisis in this country and our members deserve a pay rise that reflects the real level of inflation and their hard work. The failure to do so paints a sorry picture of this company.”

“Unite is totally focussed on the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workers at International Paints will receive the union’s complete support.”

Compiled by UniteLive team