A SECOND one day strike was held by more than 100 workers at a Lostock engineering firm in pursuit of a no-strings-attached pay claim yesterday.

The GMB Union members at Severfield — formerly Watson Steel — picketed the factory in Lostock Lane early in the morning but later dispersed.

They are seeking a three per cent pay deal and are due to repeat the strike next Thursday, although management have invited union officials to a meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Negotiations initially broke down after an offer to increase pay by 5.05 per cent over two years was linked to preconditions, such as withdrawing a bonus of £1,200 if sick leave across the whole workforce was below three per cent annually and the scrapping of time off for medical appointments.

Severfield has three other sites, at Dalton, Sherbourne and Enniskellen in Northern Ireland, where management say pay deals have been offered and accepted.

GMB’s Bolton-based regional organiser Shaun Buckley said: “Our members are remaining solid. We will attend the meeting with the management on Wednesday in the hope that there may be a way forward.

"If they make an offer which is acceptable, of course, we will call off next Thursday’s strike.”

Severfield’s communication manager Carrie Mulligan confirmed a meeting with the union had been organised.

“We are very keen to resolved things,” she said. “Although it is only 100 workers out of a total of 1,200 across all four sites, we want to get back to a situation where it is business as usual.”