Armageddon out of here! Nuclear bomb makers to stage two 48-hour strikes in a long-running dispute over pensions
- Around 600 staff at the Aldermaston and Burghfield sites will go on strike
- Workers' union claims guarantees about their pensions have been ignored
- The impact and consequences of the industrial action have yet to be announced
- AWE employs 4,500 full time staff and a similar number of contractors
Workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment are to stage two 48-hour strikes in a dispute over pensions.
Unite said 600 of its members at AWE's two sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire will walk out for 48 hours from January 18 and 30.
The sites - run by a company under contract from the Ministry of Defence - provide round the clock maintenance to the nuclear warheads used by British submarines.
Around 600 workers at the Atomic Weapons Establishment are to go on strike this month
AWE employs around 4,500 people across its UK sites, with a similar number of contractors also working at any one time.
Unite said workers felt 'deeply betrayed' as promises made a quarter of a century ago guaranteeing their pensions, when they were transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the private sector, have been broken.
The union is protesting at plans to close the defined benefit scheme at the end of the month and replace it with a defined contribution one.
Unite regional officer Bob Middleton said: 'It was in the House of Commons in the early 1990s that the then-Tory government made copper bottomed promises to AWE workers regarding the future of their pensions, once they transferred to the private sector.
'It is quite clear that this pledge has been shattered and our members feel deeply betrayed. The hallmark of this dispute is a litany of broken promises.
'The most just course of action would be for the pension scheme to be taken back by the MoD.
'The four days of strike action later this month are not being taken lightly. It is not a 'political' strike, but one taken reluctantly by our members who have no desire to see thousands of pounds wiped off their retirement incomes.'
According to its website, AWE plays a 'crucial role' in the nation's defence, raising questions about what impact the strikes will have on the UK's ability to maintain its nuclear deterrent.
Scientists at the site provide and maintain warheads for Royal Navy submarines
A statement on its site said: 'Our team of world-renowned scientists, engineers and specialists undertake critical work, providing and maintaining warheads for Royal Navy submarines – everything from design and manufacture to in-service support and decommissioning.
'Our unique nuclear skills and expertise means that we are also able to provide intelligence and support to the UK Government by developing innovative solutions to combat nuclear threat, terrorism and nuclear proliferation.'
The site at Aldermaston, formerly a wartime airfield, became a key site in the nuclear research programme in 1950.
Scientific staff arrived a year later, and by 1952 it was renamed the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment in 1952, the same year as the UK's first successful nuclear detonation test, called Operation Hurricane.
An MOD spokesman said: 'The MOD is aware of the industrial action at AWE in relation to changes to the AWE pension scheme.
'Changes to the AWE Pension Scheme are a matter for AWE plc to determine as the employer.'
'Safety and security of the AWE sites are of the highest priority and measures are in place to ensure these would not be compromised in the event of industrial action.
'MOD is being kept informed of developments'
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