National Grid workers to take action over pay offer

Workers at National Grid are to ban overtime from next week as part of industrial action over a pay dispute.

The Prospect Trade Union said its members would take action short of a strike from 28 January in protest at a two-year pay offer worth 2.5 per cent from July 2010 and 2.25 per cent from this July.

"Members are dismayed by the company's intransigence," said national officer Emily Boase. "The current offer represents only half the inflation rate, with the risk of a sharp rise in inflation to come. Yet in the past National Grid has linked its pay deals to inflation.

"Business is booming for National Grid - 2010 saw a 45 per cent pre-tax increase in half-yearly profits, after a 12 per cent increase in full-year profits and an 8 per cent dividend payment to shareholders."

The union said the company relied heavily on overtime and goodwill, although it added that its members would respond to emergencies and take steps to protect vulnerable people.

Prospect has more than 1,000 members in National Grid, including grid systems engineers, field engineers, gas operations engineers, office-based development engineers and managers.