HUNDREDS of angry Sellafield staff will stage a mass march to the site next week as part of a three-day protest over pay.

Workers will down tools on Tuesday morning, before marching from Yottenfews car park to the nuclear site's Main Gate to hold an outdoor union meeting. This will be followed by a 48-hour strike, complete with picket lines, starting at 6am on Wednesday. Traffic chaos is likely to hit the vicinity of the site.

The GMB union, which represents the 388 health physics monitors (HPMs) involved in the action, says that its members deserve a universal pay rise, while Sellafield Ltd maintains that the increase should be based on merit.

The latest action follows a 24-hour strike that took place on July 28. Discussions since then, says Joe Murdock, GMB convenor on site, have not resolved the issue.

Tuesday's march and mass meeting has been organised, added Mr Murdock, because Sellafield Ltd has declined the union permission to hold a meeting in working hours. The walk-out begins at 8.30am and will last four hours.

The long-standing dispute centres on the criteria of a pay rise pledged to the HPMs negotiated in January last year. The GMB argues that all HPMs should benefit from the new rate, while Sellafield Ltd says it should be awarded based on a worker's skills and responsibilities. 

More than 83 per cent of monitors took part in a ballot for industrial action on July 6 and voted overwhelmingly – almost 98 per cent – in support of action. HPMs - who assess radiological conditions - are thought to receive an average salary of £40,000 per year.

Mr Murdock added: "Our members are aggrieved and feel they deserve the recognition of the pay upgrade they had been promised. 

“The company has had many opportunities to resolve this but has declined any meaningful discussions with us. Our mandate for industrial action is overwhelming."

Sellafield Ltd responded that it has worked with the GMB to find a solution, adding: "This dispute centers on a fundamental difference of understanding about an agreement to reward a number of HPMs who carry out specific tasks in specific plants. 

"Fairness is the key principle. That some of those individuals are entitled to further reward is not in dispute – the contention lies in the fact that we have always said that there must be criteria as to who does and does not qualify for the payment, and the GMB’s desire for us to apply a blanket payment across the majority of the HPM workforce."