Staff at the Atomic Weapons Establishment will take strike action on Thursday over plans for around 800 redundancies at the Ministry of Defence body.
The action is being coordinated by the Prospect union, which represents specialist, digital, technical and scientific civil servants.
In November, the body – recently renamed AWE Nuclear Security Technologies – told staff it would be embarking on a restructuring programme with around 7,000 roles in scope for 400-500 redundancies, and a further 750 posts being recruited for.
Prospect said AWE has since increased the number of potential redundancies to 800, but has failed to provide Prospect with all the information necessary to understand and challenge the restructure.
In a ballot of staff working at AWE sites including Aldermaston and Burghfield, 95% backed action short of a strike and 81% voted in favour of strike action, while the turnout was also above the 50% legal threshold.
Prospect said its members, who work in specialist roles as scientists and engineers across AWE, will strike on 12 and 26 March in protest at the plans and senior management’s “failure to consult”. Action short of a strike has already begun and will run continuously.
Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said: “Our members are the country’s leading experts in their field and take huge pride in the job they do on behalf of the nation. They deserve a full and honest account of the justification for these changes, and the consequences for the future of the organisation, with a chance to have their own voices meaningfully heard.
“The chaotic and partial provision of information during this process has seriously damaged the relationship between AWE staff and their leadership and is the root cause of this action.
“We have been clear with management throughout this process about the steps they need to take but, while some progress has been made, the core issues remain unresolved, leaving us no choice but to push ahead with this action.”
The government recently committed to spending £15bn on a new nuclear warhead programme. Prospect warned that this investment “risks being derailed if this restructure continues to cause internal chaos”.
The union acknowledged that walkouts and action short of a strike would add to this disruption and potentially cost AWE millions of pounds, but said “a failed reorganisation could have permanent consequences for the future of the organisation”.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We are aware of Prospect’s planned strike action and continue to urge dialogue, meaningful consultation and a constructive resolution between AWE and Prospect on the issues raised.
“Pre-planned contingency measures will be implemented to maintain defence outputs and the safety and security of AWE’s sites.
“The AWE workforce is being reshaped to deliver on the government’s commitment to the nuclear deterrent, refocussing resources to build capability, and AWE will continue to operate with approximately 9,500 employees.”