Prospect ballots members at Defence Equipment & Support on strike action
Prospect union is balloting its members at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), a Ministry of Defence (MoD) agency, on industrial action.
The ballot comes after the employer failed to meet the union’s pay claim and imposed an unagreed pay offer for 2023/2024. Under the imposed pay offer, the majority of DE&S employees will receive a consolidated pay increase of 3.25% or less.
Prospect is recommending that members vote yes to both strike action and action short of strike (ASOS).
The agency is responsible for managing MoD procurement across the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, and for support programmes for the UK’s armed forces. Its headquarters is located at the MoD’s Abbey Wood complex in Bristol, which is the largest MoD site in the UK, with staff also working at other sites across the UK.
Prospect members at DE&S undertake a range of roles, from engineers who test military aircraft for airworthiness to those providing expert support to ensure the safe operation of key military hardware such as warships, aircraft carriers and armoured vehicles.
The ballot opens today (Friday 16th February) and closes on Friday 1st March.
Prospect General Secretary, Mike Clancy, said:
“Our members at DE&S are committed experts dedicated to keeping our country safe in an increasingly dangerous world.
“Yet instead of recognising their invaluable work, their employer is attempting to impose another significant cut in pay, with an offer below that negotiated elsewhere in the public sector, and far below their private sector counterparts.
“Industrial action is always a last resort. It is not too late for the employer to come back to the table and make a better offer.”
