Staff at Severfield鈥檚 site in Bolton begin strike action next week after being denied any pay rise this year.
More than 90% of GMB members at Severfield鈥檚 Lostock site 鈥� working as welders, platers and machine operators 鈥� voted in favour of strike action.
The company鈥檚 new chief executive, Paul McNerney, who joined from Laing O鈥橰ourke in the autumn, has denied employees a pay rise as he tries to turn the company back to profit.
In the year to 29th March 2025 Severfield made a pre-tax loss of 拢17.5m on revenue of 拢450.9m on the back of with welds on HS2 and National Highways bridges.
Severfield's financial problems have continued into the current year, with a pre-tax loss of 拢5.6m reported for the six months to 27th September 2025.
GMB members at Lostock have been conducting an overtime ban this week, and will start with one full day of strike action on Monday 16th February, followed by two full days of strike action on Monday 23rd February and Tuesday 24th February.
GMB regional organiser John Weir said: 鈥淣o worker anywhere deserves to be offered literally nothing. GMB members at Severfield do highly skilled work, in an industry where such talent is in short supply. Severfield is a huge company, with revenues of nearly half a billion pounds.
"Regardless of losses in a single year, that workers should shoulder the burden is unacceptable.
鈥淕MB has provided a range of options to settle this dispute, but Severfield continues to say 0 per cent is their final offer, so our members are left with no choice but to strike."
Invited to respond, a Severfield spokesperson said that company聽had no comment to make.
Projects that will be affected by the dispute are unlikely to include the Agratas battery gigafactory in Somerset that Sir Robert McAlpine is building. Structural steelwork on Building One there has just recently been completed 鈥� all 23,000 tonnes of it, for a building 525 metres long, 167 metres wide and 34 metres high at its apex.