Some 600 workers on the construction site of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station near Burnham-On-Sea staged a mass sit-in on Tuesday (March 6th).
Workers employed by at the EDF Energy site claim they had not been paid for days when snow stopped work last week.
It’s reported that local managers offered some pay but this was rejected as being too low.
EDF Energy says those sent home would be paid in line with agreements signed with trade unions.
Some 2,000 people are working on the site but were sent home on Thursday.
One worker told the BBC: “We got kicked off site last Thursday because of the snow. We couldn’t go home. We had to report in each day.”
“I stayed in digs for four days. I was meant to be on shift Thursday to Sunday, but I’m not being paid for the weekend, just Thursday and Friday.”
Many of the workers are represented by the Unite trade union, which said it was in talks with EDF to try to resolve the unofficial dispute.
An EDF spokesman said: “The majority of the Hinkley Point C workforce are working as normal today. A smaller number of workers are disputing payments for bad weather and they are being encouraged to return to work.”
“Employees who were unable to work at the site during recent bad weather will be paid in line with agreements signed with the trade unions.”
“The safety of our workforce is paramount and a decision was made to close the site on Thursday ahead of the bad weather.”
“Work was carried out over the weekend to ensure the site was available for a safe return to work today.”
