Three hundred workers employed by Thales at its Govan and Reading sites are being balloted for strike action after rejecting a pay offer, Unite the Union has said.

The ballot, which opens on 2 June and closes on 23 June, covers Unite members working as electronics, software and systems engineers alongside manufacturing and mechanical technicians. The workers are based primarily at Thales’s site in Govan, Glasgow, with further members at the company’s Reading headquarters.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our Thales members are highly skilled and work on critical defence and security systems, but the company’s pay offer is treating the workers with contempt. Thales is very wealthy with a record order book. It needs to do the right thing for its workers in Glasgow and Reading by making an improved offer which our members can accept.”

Unite regional coordinator Elaine Dougall said: “Thales is recording tens of millions in profit and it is making billions from UK government contracts. Thales needs to return to the negotiating table with an improved offer, or they will face the anger of their workforce on the picket line.”

Thales UK registered £179.3 million in combined operating profits in 2023 and 2024. The company recently announced export deals worth £1.1 billion, sustaining hundreds of jobs in Glasgow, and holds record levels of orders with the Ministry of Defence. Thales remains the sole supplier of periscopes and optronics masts to the Royal Navy.