North Wales defence optics workers secure pay deal

Workers at North Wales defence manufacturer Qioptiq have accepted a two-year pay deal worth eight per cent after threatening industrial action over an earlier offer, according to Unite.

Staff at the Saint Asaph site, which produces optics for the defence sector including avionics, night vision equipment and weapon scopes, had voted earlier in June to take strike action after rejecting an initial three per cent offer from the company. Following that vote, a revised package was tabled and accepted, ending the dispute before any walkout took place. Planned strike action by members of both Unite and the GMB has now been called off.

Under the terms of the new deal, workers will receive a 3.5 per cent pay increase in the first year, supplemented by a 1.5 per cent bonus payable in December and additional annual leave. A further 4.5 per cent rise will follow in the second year. The arrangement marks a significant climb from the company’s opening position, and Unite has presented it as evidence of what collective bargaining can deliver in the defence manufacturing sector.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham described the outcome as a vindication of the strike threat. “This is a great win for our members at Qioptiq,” she said, as quoted in the union’s statement. “It shows the power of the union and what happens when workers are willing to take strike action to further their goals against an employer who’d previously made a poor pay offer.”

Unite regional officer Jono Davies used the announcement to make a wider pitch to defence workers in Wales. “Unite is the winning union in defence manufacturing and this is a good deal for our members,” he said. “They were backed all the way in this dispute by Unite. This is a rallying cry to workers across the industry in Wales — Unite puts money in your pocket.”

Qioptiq operates as part of the Excelitas Technologies group and is one of the more prominent defence optics manufacturers in the UK, with the Saint Asaph facility supplying the British Army and allied forces. Its product range includes the Surveillance and Target Acquisition Night Equipment family of in-service sights used on infantry weapons, alongside thermal imaging systems and aviation-related optical components. The site has long been a notable employer in the Denbighshire area and forms part of the cluster of defence and aerospace work concentrated in North Wales.