AWE members turn out for strike action over shambolic restructure
Prospect members working at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) went on strike today, Thursday 12 March, over a shambolic and botched restructure programme, where the senior management have failed to consult properly with staff.
AWE strike
There was a strong and highly visible union presence at several of the entrance gates at the main AWE site at Aldermaston and there was also a vibrant picket line at the Burghfield site.
Speaking to Prospect on the picket line at West Gate, Aldermaston, Sarah, an AWE engineer, said: “I’ve gone from proud to work for AWE to being disillusioned and miserable, quite frankly. I think that people who serve our country, and work to make sure our deterrent works and is safe, deserve better treatment than that.
“I’m in engineering and I hate seeing how many proud and well-educated engineers have been forced out of the company by poor-decision making and a lack of accountability.”
Mike Clancy, Prospect General Secretary, stood on the picket alongside the AWE membership this morning, said of the proposed restructure:
“I’ve never seen anything quite as bad as this. I mean the members of AWE are completely committed to the mission and the fact that they got to the point where they needed to take industrial action is all that needs to be said.
“Now there’s a chance for this employer to learn from the mistakes of the last four months and try and get it right. Our members care, and it’s time they listen to them.”
In the industrial action ballot, members had voted overwhelmingly to go strike (81%) and have been taking action short of a strike since the start of the month.
Another day of strike action is currently scheduled for 26 March.
Dispute background
In November, AWE told staff it would be embarking on a restructuring programme with around 7,000 roles in scope for 400-500 redundancies, while a further 750 posts are being recruited for.
AWE has since increased the number of potential redundancies to 800 but still haven’t provide Prospect with the information necessary to understand and challenge the restructure.
Prospect members work in specialist roles as scientists and engineers across AWE and are vital to the UK’s atomic weapons programme and to our security, providing unique and irreplaceable skills.
These workers include world-leading scientists who are proud of the vital work they do on behalf of the nation and our allies but have been pushed to the brink by the repeated errors from AWE leadership.
See more photos from today’s AWE strike on Prospect’s Flickr.
