Engineers at Cadent will down tools on the last two days of May after rejecting a below-inflation pay offer from the major UK gas distributor.
Around 2,000 members of the GMB trade union will stage a 48-hour strike that could potentially cause outages at homes and businesses throughout England.
The workers, many of whom have been eschewing overtime since 10 May, overwhelmingly rejected a pay increase of 2% for 2021 and 4% from July 22.
With inflation running at 11.1%, the GMB said the deal on the table amounts to a massive real terms pay cut and noted pointedly that Cadent made an operating profit of £901mln, with chief executive officer Steve Fraser trousering £1.4mln in 2020/21.
“GMB members have had enough. They are determined to stick together and fight for what's right. They deserve better pay,” said Gary Carter, GMB National Officer.
“Bosses trumpeting they've raised rates to £10 per hour – but that’s nothing to be proud of. It's poor pay, for skilled work.
“Cadent Gas pays its chief executive £1.4 million a year and makes big profits from taxpayers for its Australian owners Macquarie - It can afford to pay its workers properly,” Carter asserted.