Posted on: 9 April 2026

Dear Member,

Wienerberger has told us that they plan to review pay, hours, holidays and other terms and conditions across all sites. This is a big piece of work that could bring real improvements – but only if your voice is part of it.

Over the years, different sites have ended up with different contracts, bonuses and allowances. That means people doing similar jobs can be paid or treated differently. This review is meant to sort that out so that everyone understands what they’re entitled to, and so that things are fair and consistent across the company.

GMB wants to make sure this process works for the workforce and to do that, we need GMB leads from every site to take part in the discussions. Workplace leads will make sure that the details of how your site works, like shift patterns, allowances and overtime, are not missed when new terms are agreed.

You don’t need experience to be a site lead, just a willingness to listen to your workmates and speak up for them. Training and time off will be supported so you can do the role properly.

What happens next

• The review will start in November 2025.
• Discussions between the company and GMB will run through early next year.
• Any proposed changes will be shared with all employees before anything is agreed and GMB members will get a vote.

How you can get involved

• Put your name forward to be a GMB site lead - we need at least one from each factory.
• Talk to your colleagues and encourage them to join GMB so everyone has a say.
• Ask questions or raise any local issues that should be looked at.
• Print this notice and place on noticeboards

If you’re interested in being a rep/site lead or want to know more, speak to your GMB organiser, email charlotte.brumpton-childs@gmb.org.uk, follow this link if you’re viewing online or scan the below QR code.

In Solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

Acting National Secretary

Posted on: 31 March 2026

Dear GMB Union Member,

Workplace exposure to hazardous substances, particularly fumes, dusts, vapours, mists, and airborne particulates, remains a significant occupational health concern across UK industries. As part of our commitment to safeguarding health, safety, and welfare at work, this Workplace Exposure Register has been created in partnership with our law firm Unionline to ensure that workers have a clear, accessible means of recording and evidencing exposure to potentially harmful airborne contaminants.

This register is designed to complement, not replace, the legal duties placed upon employers. Employers are required to assess, control, monitor, and review employees’ exposure to hazardous substances. However, we recognise that workers themselves are often best placed to identify when exposures occur, especially where controls may be inadequate, inconsistent, or poorly implemented.

In February 2019 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reclassified all welding fume, including mild steel, as a Group 1 human carcinogen, with no safe level of exposure. This includes both the visible particulate fume as well as the invisible gases generated during welding operations. Welding fume exposure has been linked to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), occupational asthma, metal fume fever, and long-term neurological, renal, and cardiovascular harm. For these reasons, welding fume is given specific emphasis in this register.

Workers across manufacturing, engineering, shipbuilding, construction, fabrication, and maintenance roles are routinely exposed to welding fume, often in challenging real-world environments where ventilation, extraction, and respiratory protection may be inadequate. Documenting these exposures is essential to ensure early intervention, enforce employer compliance, and protect workers’ long‑term health.

The purpose of this Workplace Exposure Register is to:

Provide workers with a formal mechanism to record instances of exposure to hazardous fumes, dusts, and airborne substances, including but not limited to welding fume, metalworking fluids, silica dust, wood dust, solvents, and combustion products.

Create a contemporaneous record that may assist in enforcing workplace safety improvements and ensuring employers meet their statutory duties under COSHH.

Support members in the event of future industrial disease claims handled through Unionline, by preserving evidence of exposure that may otherwise be lost over time.

Strengthen our ability to challenge unsafe work practices and advocate for better engineering controls, extraction systems, health surveillance, and training.

Who Should Use This Register

Anyone who may be exposed to hazardous airborne contaminants - whether regularly or occasionally - is encouraged to complete this register whenever exposure occurs or when controls fail. This includes welders, fabricators, apprentices, maintenance technicians, cleaners, machine operators, labourers, and any worker who may be unintentionally exposed through bystander contamination or poor segregation of workspaces.

Entries in this register will be securely held and may be used by GMB or Unionline to:

• Identify patterns of unsafe practice
• Support collective bargaining around health and safety
• Strengthen grievances and health & safety reports
• Assist with legal claims relating to industrial disease

By completing this register, members help ensure that exposure risks—especially those as serious as welding fume inhalation—are properly recognised, challenged, and prevented.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PD9HL6M

We urge all members to use this new Register as appropriate.

In solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, Acting National Secretary

Matt Roberts, National Officer

Posted on: 14 July 2025

Dear GMB Member,

As agreed with the GMB last year, we are pleased to confirm the 2025 pay award will be 3.9%. This applies to all pay elements, effective and paid for the week commencing 31 August 2025.

This was agreed as part of the two-year pay deal negotiated with the GMB last year. It was agreed that as of September 2025, Wienerberger Ltd would honour a pay increase equal to CPI (produced by the Office of National Statistics to indicate inflation) plus 0.5%.

The next pay review will take place in Summer 2026.

In solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

National Officer

Posted on: 12 December 2024

Dear GMB member,

Following on from the joint communication issued earlier today we want to update you on the pay negotiations. As stated, the company provided an in depth an thorough explanation of how pay is calculated in order to demonstrate how Wienerberger members were not at a detriment because of the way the hourly rate is structured. Whilst we acknowledge that according to the demonstration people are getting paid comfortably above the minimum rate, and have their sick pay, pension etc calculated on gross earnings, both parties agree that we need a clearer and simplified pay structure that is easy to understand.

At the ACAS negotiations we asked Wienerberger to revise the offer with a percentage to apply to the basic hourly rate, rather than all rates, to see if that would have a more positive impact on peoples pay. The company went away and did that in good faith and presented an alternative proposal on Tuesday to the NNC.

Your reps have gone away and compared the previous balloted offer to the new offer and unfortunately, due to the complexities of the pay structures, the amended offer would not be beneficial to members compared to the previous offer.

We have exhausted the ACAS process and the company are clear that there is no more room for negotiation. With the previous rejection being at such a small margin (4%) we have not reached the GMB industrial action mandate threshold as set out in the rule book. We are therefore in a position where we must accept the offer as detailed below:

A 2-year deal consisting of the following:

September 1^st 2024

• 2.5% on all elements of pay
• Removal of the waiting day during sickness absence

September 1^st 2025

• A pay increase equal to the CPI figure published in June 2025 PLUS 0.5% or 2% whichever is higher

In Solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

National Officer

Posted on: 15 November 2024

Dear Member,

Following on from the communication we sent you last week Wienerberger have requested that we enter ACAS negotiations to try and settle the dispute before any industrial action is taken. We have agreed to this and are now in the process of setting up the negotiation meeting.

We anticipate that this will happen in the next fortnight, diaries allowing, and will update you once this has taken place.

As explained in the last communication the dispute with Wienerberger is around a pay offer for 2024 that does not meet members expectations as well as the issue with members hourly rate being less than the national minimum wage.

Using attendance and production bonuses etc. to top up pay to meet the legal minimum threshold means members lose out on pension contributions, sick pay and shift premium calculations. Our research suggests that Wienerberger are the only employer in the brick industry to calculate pay this way and means that their employees are not receiving a competitive or comparative employment package.

Our aim is to resolve the above issues through meaningful negotiations, and we hope that the ACAS talks will help with that. Should that not be the case then the next step for GMB would be to ballot members for industrial action. If we end up there then we will provide more information on what that looks like and expected timelines but for now it is helpful if you check that we have all the right contact and address information for you so that you can be included in any communications going forward.

In Solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

GMB National Officer

Posted on: 4 November 2024

Dear Member,

Our ballot has concluded and a majority of GMB members have voted to reject the pay offer presented, it was made clear on the ballot that the next likely step if it was rejected would be to enter into a dispute which could include industrial action.

When canvassing members it is clear that their key issues were:

• The 2024 offer needs to be improved

• The hourly rate being below the NMW – members feel very strongly that topping up wages with attendance bonuses and the like is not right. The knock on impact on shift premiums, sick pay and pensionable earnings is huge. This coupled with the budget announcement this week that National Minimum Wage will rise by a further 6.7% in April 2025 means that members are no longer willing to wait for this issue to be resolved.

We have written to the business telling them the above and I will be meeting with your reps shortly to discuss next steps. In our agreement there is a step before industrial action where we use ACAS to try and mediate a solution, if this is not possible then it is highly likely that we will end up in a dispute with Wienerberger over pay which includes industrial action.

At this stage it is important to stay in touch with your rep to keep up to date with what is happening and to make sure we have your most up to date information, this includes:

1. Workplace (which factory you're currently at is really important)
2. Job title
3. Home address (we have to do industrial action ballots via post)
4. Contact information (we will send emails and texts letting members know latest developments, make sure you get yours)

Ring your local GMB office to check if you think your information might be out of date or tell your rep.

If there isn't a rep in your workplace or on your shift consider volunteering to be a spokesperson/contact so we can make sure all members are getting their information quickly and their questions answered.

In solidarity ,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

National Officer