A SECOND day of strike action is being carried out by staff at the Atomic  Weapons Establishment (AWE) sites in Aldermaston and Burghfield today.

The walkout comes a month after more than 600 members of staff took part in industrial action in November over a dispute to the change of workers’ pension scheme.

As well as hundreds of staff striking at the AWE sites, members belonging to trade union, Unite the Unions, headed up to Westminster to lobby MPs about the ‘betrayal’ of the Houses of Parliament.

The second day of strike action came following a breakdown in communication between trade union Unite and AWE meant no agreement over the disputed pension scheme could be reached.

Unite regional officer Bob Middleton said: “It was in the House of Commons a quarter of century ago that the then-Tory government made cast-iron promises to AWE workers regarding the future of their pensions, once they transferred to the private sector.

“It is, therefore, fitting that AWE workers return to lobby parliament and make appointments to see their local MPs so that the AWE management does not backtrack on those pension pledges. Our members feel deeply betrayed.”

Currently, AWE scheme members pay 10 per cent of their salary into the scheme and the employer pays 26 per cent.

Under AWE’s new proposals, employees will be able to pay from three to nine per cent; with AWE paying from seven to 13 per cent.

AWE Site Director Haydn Clulow said: “The safety and security of AWE staff and the general public remains our top priority. We have undertaken detailed contingency planning and have resilient measures in place to deal with industrial action.

“AWE is committed to holding discussions with our Trade Unions and to maintaining dialogue with them.”