Workers at ADL in Falkirk to strike

Workers at the Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) bus building plant in Falkirk have voted for strike action after rejecting a four per cent pay offer.

Unite the union said its members had declined the “pitiful” pay deal. They added that the company also rejected a proposal by Unite to move production to a four-day week (32 hours) from five days (36 hours) with it stating there would be no reduction in weekly hours worked.

The union represents around 400 coach builders and spray painters at ADL’S factory in Glasgow Road, Camelon. It said 79.5 per cent of its members voted in the ballot, with 89.5 per cent voting for strike action.

The union added its members had no pay rise for three years, as well as 140 jobs lost at ADL in the Camelon plant and nearby Larbert through voluntary redundancy.

Sharon Graham Unite general secretary said: “Unite’s members at ADL’S Camelon factory have made sacrifice after sacrifice. They have not had a pay increase in three years and the pitiful offer on the table is three times behind current inflation. Our members have no choice but to take strike action and we will support them in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

Unite highlighted ADL’S “healthy order book” with the company last year winning contracts to manufacture 172 green buses through a second round of the Scottish Government’s £40.5 million Scottish Ultra-low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS).