PRODUCTION workers at Somerset firm Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Bridgwater, where productivity is said to have ‘gone through the roof’, have voted for strike action over a ‘paltry’ pay offer.

Unite the union said its 65 members had voted by a majority of 83 per cent for strike action, after they had rejected a 2.8 per cent pay offer for the year starting January 2019.

The company, founded in 1935, makes specialist seals for high pressure engines.

Unite regional officer Tim Morris said: “Our members have given us a very strong mandate for strike action over a paltry pay offer.

“We will now be considering our next steps, in consultation with our reps, and will be making an announcement on strike dates in due course.

“However, the senior management, which has frankly admitted that workforce productivity has gone through the roof, now has a window of opportunity to enter into constructive pay talks.

“The ballot result has to be seen in the context of this highly profitable company failing to acknowledge the huge increases in housing costs across Somerset.

“This has been compounded by the fact that previous pay increases have also failed to keep pace with inflation and wages have repeatedly fallen behind the ever rising cost of living.

There is a total workforce of 112 at the Dunball site.