THOUSANDS of workers at defence and aerospace company Leonardo, which has a site in Yeovil, have secured a "significant pay increase" after taking strike action.
Staff based at sites in Yeovil, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Basildon and Luton manufacture vital defence equipment for the UK armed forces, including helicopters and radar, have accepted a new offer from the company worth eight per cent over two years.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “There is power in a union and workers at Leonardo should be proud of the increased pay award they have secured.
“Workers stood firm against a company making billions in profits. Our members do vital work in helping keep the UK safe and thoroughly deserve their win.”
A Leonardo spokesperson said: "Leonardo confirms the positive results of the ballot and acceptance of our revised pay and reward package by Unite members. This reflects our continued commitment to offering fair and sustainable pay and benefits, while remaining competitive in the global market.
"With this matter resolved, we are now focused on leveraging the skill and dedication of our workforce to deliver our key commitments.”
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Unite members had already taken strike action and had more dates planned across the autumn and winter, but, having forced the company to improve its offer and accepted this pay increase, all further planned industrial action is now cancelled.
Unite national aerospace officer Rhys McCarthy added: “This is a positive result for workers in aerospace and should be a warning to other employers in the sector – Unite members know their worth and are willing to take industrial action to achieve their aims. Unite is the winning union for aerospace workers.”
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