Striking BAE workers picket outside Warton and Samlesbury sites in dispute over pay

Hundreds of aerospace workers in Warton and Samlesbury have begun a renewed wave of strike action against BAE following a breakdown in pay negotiations.

Unite the Union say more than 500 staff are taking part in industrial action, with more than 200 out on strike today after BAE’s most recent pay offer was rejected.

They added that there are around 5,500 members in their bargaining unit who have recently been balloted on BAE’s latest offer, which was rejected by 89 per cent of members.

BAE, the UK’s largest manufacturer and the largest defence contractor in Europe, claimed its 2025 pay and reward offer of 3.6% was ‘market-leading’ and said it was "committed to maintain open and constructive engagement with our trade unions".

In November, the aerospace firm lost a High Court bid to prevent employees from walking out at its Lancashire factories.

Speaking outside BAE in Warton today, union representative Ross Quinn from Unite, said: “Our members have been on strike for four months now, here in Warton and at Samlesbury as well.

“There’s been picket lines at both of the sites today and this is because the company last year took Unite to the High Court and imposed a pay deal against their employees and our members’ wishes.

“So there has been a strike since then. This is easily resolved by the employer - it is an extremely profitable employer - and our members do really valuable jobs.

“But at the minute, the company is showing them no dignity, no respect, and as soon as they do that this will be resolved. They can easily afford to do that.

“So we’re currently on strike, we’re now in our fourth month of strike action, and we’re looking for the company to be a reasonable offer on the table to resolve it.

“We’ve got more talks next week and at the moment we’d probably say its 50/50. We’re not banking on a resolution next week, but we haven’t had a picket line up to this point.

“We’ve tried to resolve it, even while people are out on strike, however, if the company don’t move next week, it’s safe to say we’re going to see much more of this and more people coming out on strike.

“There’s really strong feeling against the company and their behaviour at the minute.”

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Statement from BAE

In response to today’s industrial action, a spokesperson for BAE said: “We respect the right of our employees to take lawful industrial action and are committed to maintaining constructive engagement as part of our long-standing partnership approach with our Trade Unions.”

The firm’s spokesperson added: “Our priority remains to protect our people, our business and the vital work we do for our customers.

“We believe the Company’s offer is fair and ensures that our employees continued to receive market-leading pay and reward, while balancing our need to be competitive and affordable for our customers.

“With the majority of our employees working as normal, we are focused on minimising any disruption and implementing our robust contingency plans.”