Welcome to the GMB Union Aerospace, Defence & Shipbuilding Sector.

The first duty of any government is to keep its people safe. Today, in a world marked by rapid geopolitical change and rising global instability, that responsibility has never been more vital. Long‑standing assumptions have been shattered. The era of offshoring and outsourcing is over. Globalisation as we knew it is dead. Now, the UK must rebuild sovereign industrial capability.

For too long, the UK, once the industrial powerhouse of the world, has looked towards foreign shores and a patchwork of agency labour to deliver critical defence capability for an underfunded and reduced military. That approach has left the country unnecessarily vulnerable and has severely short‑changed the working‑class communities that once formed the backbone of our industrial strength. If we are serious about keeping the nation safe, then we must also be serious about rebuilding the industries that protect it, with good, directly employed union jobs at their core.

We believe that the workers who build and maintain our ships, submarines, and aircraft, produce our munitions, and service critical equipment, deserve the very opposite of insecure work and a race to the bottom. They deserve decent pay, stable employment, and respect. And we know that outsourcing and casualisation hit women and minority groups hardest, creating a tiered workforce that undermines fairness, morale, and operational effectiveness. Reversing that trend is essential, not only for equality, but for building a resilient and capable defence industry.

For generations, our members have kept the country safe through their skill, dedication, and expertise. Their knowledge, on the tools, and across decades of service, is indispensable to the national debate about defence, industrial strategy, and our country’s future security. The next generation stands ready too, eager to seize the opportunities created by high‑quality apprenticeships and skilled career pathways rooted in strong communities and long-term investment.

To secure the future, we must break with the many failures of the recent past. We need a new national endeavour, a genuine partnership between government, employers, and unions, to put sovereign capability, skilled jobs, and national resilience back where they belong: at the heart of the UK’s economic strategy.

Our members are ready for that challenge. Together, we can rebuild the workforce, strengthen our industrial foundations, and ensure that everyone who works in our sector gets a good deal at work.

This is our mission, and this is your union. Please explore the sections below for information on specific employers within our sector.