Lincoln Bifrangi workers vote to strike over pay

This story is over

Workers angry over current pay levels at Lincoln engineering firm Bifrangi have voted for strike action.

More than 60% of the GMB Union workers who took part in the vote on Wednesday, January 25 were in favour of taking strike action, details of which will be confirmed at a later date.

The engineering firm based on Spa Road in the city specialises in forging components in the agricultural, off-highway, marine, power and mining sectors.

Staff at the company have not received an increase on their basic pay since 2013 and claim a 1% pay rise to all staff would cost the company £33,000.

Staff say they’ve been told by the Italian-owned company it is unable to provide a pay rise due to running at a loss. The company recently invested £50 million in a new state-of-the-art Lincoln research centre.

Regional organiser for GMB Union Colin Todd told Lincolnshire Business: “The members have been clear that they want to take action.

“We will be informing the company immediately of the decision and if the company want to have talks to prevent any action we are happy to do so.

“I will be arranging a members meeting next week to decide what action to take and when.”

A meeting held in November saw GMB Union members unanimously vote for a mandate, which has now returned in favour of strike action and also in favour of an action shortage strike.

Some 90 staff out of 130 are part of the union and 60% of those staff voted, with 60% in favour of strike action and 90% in favour of an action shortage strike.