a private company owned in thirds by the UK Government<\/a>, the Dutch Government and two German utility firms. It is the leading Western enricher of uranium.<\/p>\nThe union added that Annual pay negotiations between Unite and Urenco had previously been based on the retail price index (RPI) rate of inflation for the previous September, which was 4.5% in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite record orders of \u20ac27.3bn (\u00a323.3bn), profits (Ebitda) of \u20ac221.8M (\u00a3189.6M) and \u20ac12.9M (\u00a311.03M) in net income, Urenco has put forward an offer of only 4.1%, which has been rejected by the workers,\u201d Unite said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrikes that will severely impact Urencos UK operations will be announced in the coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: \u201cUrenco is hugely profitable and can more than afford to put forward a pay offer that meets these workers\u2019 expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnite is backing them 100 per cent in their demands for an acceptable pay offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unite regional officer Brian Troake said: \u201cUrenco\u2019s UK operations generated huge operating profits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndustrial action can still be avoided, but that will require an improved offer from the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
GMB regional organiser Steve Boden said: \u201cUrenco have dragged out negotiations for months while our members go without a pay rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been left with no choice but to go with the nuclear option and vote for strike action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are high skilled workers in a strategically vital industry for the UK; they deserve a real pay rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for Urenco to de-escalate and make an improved offer.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Urenco spokesperson told NCE: \u201cUrenco believes in investing in employees through a strong overall pay and benefits package which is competitive both locally and nationally. Over the last three years, pay award values have totalled 24.2% (this has been paid in addition to salary increments and associated bonus and shift payments and the extension of private medical and dental benefits to all employees).<\/p>\n
\u201cUrenco values its positive and constructive relationships with its recognised trade unions. In the spirit of negotiation and good relations, the company made a best and final offer of 4.1% during pay discussions. This pay offer was accepted by members of Prospect, but rejected by members of Unite and GMB.\u201d<\/p>\n
They added:\u00a0\u201cMembers of Unite and GMB within the collective bargaining unit have indicated a preference for a 4.5% deal (in addition to salary increments) linked to the RPI* figure for September 2025. RPI has not been consistently used as a pay mechanism at Capenhurst and is being phased out nationally as an accurate measure of inflation. The live pay offer is above the CPI figure for September 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large proportion of employees will not be participating in any industrial action and so, for the most part, the business will be operating as usual. All safety, security and regulatory requirements will continue to be met.<\/p>\n
\u201cUrenco must continue to manage costs responsibly to support future investment in the site and we believe the live offer remains fair and competitive, both locally and nationally.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK Government has previously issued positive statements about unionised workers in the nuclear sector and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has Prospect senior deputy general secretary Sue Ferns as a non-executive board member.<\/p>\n
Prospect represents workers in the nuclear sector, as well as the wider energy and defence sectors; science, climate and environment; and gender equality sectors.<\/p>\n
Like what you’ve read?\u00a0To receive New Civil Engineer’s daily and weekly newsletters click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 200 workers who are employed in enriching uranium at Urenco\u2019s facility at Capenhurst, Cheshire, have voted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[234,4827,7521,8895,6166,35,5,6781,41417,41989,6,13033,13034],"class_list":["post-106426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-energy","tag-gmb","tag-industrial-action","tag-nuclear","tag-nuclear-energy","tag-strike","tag-uk","tag-union","tag-unite","tag-unite-the-union","tag-united-kingdom","tag-uranium","tag-urenco"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117120738462656686","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}