Employers signed up to the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry have come up with better offer of a 10% rate rise in January, followed by a 5% rise in 2025.

It improves on the 8.5% and 3.5% final offer rejected by 92% of workers triggering plans for strike ballots among Unite and GMB union members.

The agreement covers nearly 8,000 workers in the sector, with around half working on mainstream refinery and power station sites around the country.

In a letter to the signatory unions GMB and Unite, John Simpson, MD of the Engineering Construction Industry Association, said: “This is an extremely good offer, and it is significantly above the current rate of CPI (July 6.8%).

“It is also significantly higher than the settlements being reached in other relevant national agreements in related sectors of construction  – electrical contracting and building and civils.

“It is also more generous than settlements being reached in high profile sectors of the UK economy.

“This increased offer is made following a significant review with the stakeholders.

“This review has confirmed that industrial action would be extremely damaging to the reputation of the NAECI, further straining the confidence of clients supporting the agreement and would have a detrimental impact on all people working within the UK engineering construction industry.”