Princess Yachts workers balloted on strike action

WORKERS at Plymouth luxury boatbuilder, Princess Yachts, are to vote on whether to go on strike in a row over pay.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

More than 1,000 members of the Unite union have been balloted on whether to down tools for one day a week for up to six months.

They will also consider a total overtime ban. Union bosses said workers are angry after not being offered a pay rise this year.

The Unite union said workers had asked for a below-inflation 3% rise but had been knocked back by company bosses. The union said that, if no pay rise was forthcoming, it would mean workers had suffered a real-term 9% drop in income, due to inflation, and said the lowest-paid workers were already struggling to “put food on the table”.

Princess Yachts, which made a £24.5 million loss in 2023 and made nearly 300 redundancies last year, said it is still operating in a “highly challenging global market” and, although a turnaround plan is delivering positive results, the company still has a way to go to improve its financial position. It warned that any disruption to production would put the company’s progress “at real risk”.

The company stressed that, if its financial position continues to improve, staff could receive a “meaningful bonus” later this year and the business would be in a better position to give a pay rise next year.