Low-paid workforce at highly profitable Enniskillen sawmill vote overwhelmingly to reject insulting pay offer

Unite members at Enniskillen-based sawmill Balcas are to commence the first of three 24-hour strike actions on Thursday (June 18). In the absence of an improved offer from management, the strike will be followed by two further one-day strikes on June 25 and July 2 when the workforce is prepared to escalate the action further. The industrial action is a result of the workers rejecting the three per cent pay increase offered by management.

The strike will shut down all production of timber at the site.

Balcas is owned by Longford-based Glennon Brothers – a highly successful timber company which recently acquired the Pontrilas group which operates wood processing sites in Wales. In the latest accounts submitted for Balcas in Northern Ireland [end 2024] show the company had pre-tax profits of £18.7 million on turnover of £130.8 million – a profit margin of almost 15 per cent.

Meanwhile workers at the Enniskillen plant are paid barely above the minimum wage with new entrants being paid at the minimum wage itself.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Balcas is a highly profitable sawmill owned by Glennon Brothers. They can easily afford to pay their workers properly. A paltry increase to workers paid barely above the legal minimum is an insult. The workforce has the full support of Unite in their struggle for respect and fair pay.”

In 2019, Balcas workers took strike action for a week to end a situation where below minimum wage pay had to be topped up by production bonuses. They won a significant uplift at that time but in the intervening period pay increases have failed to keep pace with inflation or the minimum wage.

Unite regional officer Albert Hewitt said, “Work at Balcas is tough and dangerous and our members have decided to go to the gate.

“Strike action will cause severe disruption to Balcas’ customers, but this dispute is entirely of its own making. Management can still avoid this strike or its escalation. They need to return to the negotiating table with a pay offer showing their workers respect.”

Unite represents more than 150 hourly-paid workers at what is Northern Ireland’s leading sawmill.

ENDS…

Notes for editors: In March, Balcas was fined £87,000 for health and safely breaches after a Unite member had his foot amputated in what was an entirely avoidable accident. The fine was imposed after an investigation by HSENI that found that limit switches on the plant were not maintained in a safe state and defects regularly arose which prevented the safe running of the equipment.

Company fined £87,000 after employee lost foot in work accident | Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, controlling risk together