Union members at the Balcas sawmill in Enniskillen are scheduled to begin a series of 24-hour strike actions next Thursday, 18 June. Two further stoppages are planned for 25 June and 2 July unless management presents an improved pay offer.

Workers rejected a 3 per cent pay increase proposed by the company. Unite says many of the more than 150 hourly-paid staff it represents at the site earn little more than the legal minimum wage, with new recruits starting at that floor.

The company's latest annual accounts recorded pre-tax profits of £18.7 million on turnover of £130.8 million, a margin approaching 15 per cent. Balcas is owned by Glennon Brothers, which recently expanded through the acquisition of the Pontrilas group with wood processing facilities in Wales.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham argued that the business could afford a better settlement. She called the current offer an insult to employees paid at the bottom of the wage scale and said the union fully backed the workforce in its claim for fair pay.

Regional officer Albert Hewitt described the labour as tough and dangerous. He warned that the walkouts would seriously disrupt customer supply chains but insisted the dispute was of the company's making. He said management could still avert the action by returning to negotiations with what he termed a serious proposal.

The standoff follows a 2019 stoppage over a system in which production bonuses were used to reach minimum wage. That episode ended with a pay uplift, but Unite says subsequent rises have not matched inflation or statutory wage increases.