Posted on: 8 April 2026

Dear GMB member,

Please read the accompanying documentation setting out the offer and recommendations from your Unions in relation to the NAECI pay and conditions negotiations. Please answer the questions based on the following offer:

• A 4.5% increase to 2025 pay rates, effective two weeks following a positive ballot outcome or acceptance.

• A 4.5% increase to Radius payments, above 2025 rates.
• An increase of up to 5.07% in Accommodation Allowance, above 2025 rates, subject to HMRC approval. This represents the maximum level HMRC would authorise.
• A 7.2% increase to Welding Proficiency payments, above 2025 rates.

• An increase in the London Rate Enhancement from £1.00 in 2025 to £1.50 for 2026.

It is also important for members to understand that the uplift in travel and accommodation allowances cannot be negotiated at the table. Whether those increases are permitted or not is determined solely by HMRC rules, not by the Unions or the ECIA.

This offer is available for implementation from two weeks following acceptance, with a target date of 4^th May 2026.

If the offer is accepted, the Unions will immediately begin the process of commencing pay negotiations for 2027.

The Employers have confirmed that if this offer is rejected, it will be withdrawn and they will revert back to the previously implemented offer of 3.6%. They have also stated repeatedly that they will not backdate any offer.

The consultative ballot will run until midday on Tuesday 21^st April 2026.

The National Officers of Unite and GMB Unions, the NECC and NSSF are recommending members accept this offer on the basis that the offer is meaningfully above RPI and is the highest pay offer achieved in the construction sector for 2026.

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: 13 February 2026

Dear Member,

Your Employer is likely to have imposed a pay increase of 3.6% under instruction from their Employer representative and NAECI co-signatory, the ECIA. We recognise that this act is unsettling and causing a degree of anxiety that the Employers would act in such a manner. Please note this imposition did not have the agreement from the trade unions.

The Unions are aware of this situation and are actively addressing this on your behalf across a number of fronts.

We would request that members remain calm and continue working as normal while we address the situation.

At this stage;

• We believe that your Employers’ actions, under the instruction of the ECIA, imposing a non-promulgated increase, represents a clear breach of NAECI.

• We believe that your Employers’ actions, under the instruction of the ECIA, circumvents established collective bargaining arrangements and as such, may be unlawful.

We are currently engaging with our Legal department in respect of potential employment law breaches and in conjunction with this, the Unions are mapping out an industrial action ballot timetable.

At present, the most important action you can take, is to engage directly with your shop steward and ensure that you are recorded as working on site. It is also vitally important that you provide your shop steward with the following information to ensure your membership record is as up to date as possible.

• Your current home address and postcode.
• Your membership number if known.
• Your job role/trade.
• The name of the site/asset to which you are assigned.
• Your employer.

We appreciate that the need for you to repeatedly confirm these details can be frustrating. However, the Unions are legally required to take all reasonable steps to ensure that any industrial action ballot embarked upon and executed is conducted accurately.

Thank you again for your continued support and cooperation in the matter.

In Solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Child

GMB National Officer

Posted on: 28 January 2026

Dear GMB Member,

Please be advised that the NAECI offer has been rejected by a 60% majority and we do not believe we will receive any further employer/workplace results.

The results have been formally communicated to the Employers Association.

A National Shop Stewards Forum meeting will be held on the 2^nd February 2026, to discuss next steps and strategy.

Yours sincerely

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

GMB National Officer & NECC Chair

Posted on: 20 January 2026

Dear Member,

Please read the accompanying documentation setting out the offer and recommendations from your Union in relation to the NAECI Pay and Conditions negotiations. Please answer the questions based on an offer of:

A 4% increase in pay rates from the implementation date.

A further 0.5% increase in pay rates, from 1^st July 2026.*

*This is conditional upon the period between the implementation date of 26^th January 2026 and 30^th June 2026 being a period of industrial harmony across all NAECI sites in the UK. The terms are outlined below.

A 4% increase in Radius Payments.

• Up to 5.07% increase in Accommodation Allowance, subject to HMRC approval (this is not an amount that can be negotiated and is dependent upon HMRC approval).
• An increase in the London Rate Enhancement from £1.00 to £1.50. Terms relating to the conditional 0.5% increase

A 7.2% uplift in Welding Proficiency Payments.

The ECIA have made the following stipulations with regard to the additional 0.5% in July:

1. No unsanctioned stoppages of work. (localised and legitimate health safety and wellbeing concerns that may necessitate a working party temporarily stopping the job will not be a breach of these conditions)

1. Any industrial action relating to pay, benefits, or allowances must have fully exhausted NAECI procedures before proceeding to a ballot.

1. Any industrial action relating to NAECI interpretation must have fully exhausted NAECI procedures before proceeding to a ballot.

Any breach of these conditions will invalidate the additional 0.5% pay award scheduled from the 1^st July 2026.

The NJC will meet prior to July 1^st on w/c commencing 22^nd June to carry out a review and agree communication to industry regarding the additional increase.

The National Officers of Unite and GMB Unions are recommending members accept this offer on the basis that the offer is meaningfully above RPI and is the highest pay offer achieved in the construction sector for 2026.

In Solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB National Officer

Jason Poulter, Unite National Officer

Posted on: 17 December 2025

Dear Member,

Following a consultation of GMB and Unite members working under the NAECI, I can confirm the following results for the unions ballot on the 2026 ECIA NAECI pay offer:

Accept the Offer- 9.4%

Reject the Offer- 90.6%

Of those rejecting the offer, there was a full indication of willingness to take industrial action.

Given these results, it is our position that unless improvements are offered in the form of a revised offer, the NECC would be in a formal dispute over pay. As a result of this, we will be preparing to ballot our members for lawful industrial action.

We remain committed to meaningful negotiations and believe it is in the interests of all parties to continue such talks as soon as possible.

In Solidarity,

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

National Officer

Posted on: 10 January 2024

Please find attached link for the final NAECI Pay Offer: 10.1.24-final-offer-jan-24-necc-members-letter-v2.pdf

Posted on: 7 December 2023

Your employers have sent a lot of information designed for non-union members. This has raised a lot of questions from reps and members.

Frequently Asked Questions –

Backpay: There is no NJC position that stops backpay under NAECI, it has been done before and the terms of settling a dispute are between the employers and union members.

Strike Pay: Calling industrial action is always a last resort and unions support members taking lawful industrial action with Strike Pay.

Inflation RPI/CPI: Indices are used by the union when submitting and negotiating claims, as a focal point the preference is RPI as this calculation is more reflective of cost pressures felt by workers.

Settling a dispute: Unions do not refuse to settle disputes or reach agreements, there has been a recognised lack of engagement by the employers on this dispute, we have met in November and are looking to meet again as soon as possible to try and secure improvements to the current offer that are acceptable to our members.

If you have any further questions, please speak to your shop steward!

Posted on: 3 November 2023

To all GMB members working under NAECI terms and conditions,

The consultative ballot on the improved pay offer has now been concluded and 86% of members have rejected the offer.

I will be writing to the employers early next week requesting further negotiations and will be meeting with your Trade Union reps on Monday 6^th November to discuss next steps and an industrial action strategy.

In solidarity 

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs

GMB National Officer & NEEC Chair

Posted on: 23 February 2023

Dear Colleagues

I write to inform you after consultation with the NECC, that the ballot on the cost-of-living offer from the ECIA has been accepted by 54% of the workforce. I have informed the ECIA and the additional payment to support members in these unprecedented times will accrue from next week.

Although this offer is outside of the National Agreement and the collective bargaining within that, this payment has been made after a sustained campaign by our members and reps across multiple sites.

The structure of this payment allows us as the Unions to purposefully continue our campaigns to raise the IBA payments, and also to focus the energy and momentum we have gained into our pay campaign for increases in NAECI, 2024.

On the back of a pay freeze in 2021, this campaign has provided a welcome step change against a refusal by your employers to discuss cost-of-living increases in as little as five months ago.

This payment is not a gift, nor is it a freebie. It goes some way to reflect your worth, your effort and the energy that you put in to building and maintaining some of the most difficult and dangerous projects/sites in the UK. Your worth and your welfare, we believe are better reflected in your claim for 2024.

Take this money and save it while we work together to deliver on what will be the most difficult collective bargaining campaign in a generation. The gaps in pay and inflation are too large for us to enter into these negotiations in the usual manner.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our reps for all the hard work they have done over the past months and also your negotiators for their professionalism in articulating your concerns. They will have the full support of the NECC, delivering campaign updates for you on pay, welfare and closing the skills gap.

In solidarity

Charlotte Childs

National Officer

GMB & NECC Chairwomen

Posted on: 23 January 2023

Dear Members,

I have been in multiple discussions with the ECIA negotiating committee over the current cost of living crisis and the situation our members face having been awarded a 2.5% pay award for 2023.

I currently have an offer on the table that can be read in full here:

https://www.njceci.org.uk/cost-of-living-creative-solutions-meeting-empl...

The headlines are:

£1.00 per hour on all hours worked for the first half of the year

£0.75 per hour on all hours worked for the second half

It is proposed by the employers that this will be accrued and paid on a quarterly basis on the provision that there isn’t any industrial action on that site during the accrual period (industrial action taken in relation to the 2024 pay award will sit outside of this provision).

The Senior Shop Stewards Forum are meeting next week to discuss the above offer and decide on next steps, we will update you again after that.

NAECI 2024 Pay Claim

I have also submitted the pay claim for 2024, this can be read in full here:

https://www.njceci.org.uk/necc-naeci-pay-conditions-claim-2024/

Once discussions around the Cost-of-Living Payment have concluded we will move on to negotiate the pay for next year.

In solidarity

Charlotte Childs

National Officer

GMB & NECC Chairwomen

Posted on: 1 June 2022

Dear GMB Member,

As you might be aware at the end of May GMB Scotland announced that Bilfinger have agreed to pay £2.37 per hour 2nd Tier payment to all grade 4, 5 and 6 employees and Pro Rata for grades 1, 2 and 3 on the GSK Montrose site for a six-month period.

This payment is being made in recognition that there is a skill shortage in the industry. In this instance it was electricians, in other areas it will be other trades.

As you are aware food and fuel prices are at the highest levels, as is inflation, in over thirty years and National Insurance also rose last month. These expenditures are putting further pressure on your take home pay.

I would suggest that you discuss with your on-site union reps what GMB have won at Montrose, this was achieved by our representative being proactive and holding their employer to account. Where there are no reps on site, elect representatives and submit formal grievances to your employer on your 2nd Tier local payments, requesting that they renegotiate in accordance with what has been won up in Scotland.

If you require any further information, please contact your union rep or your regional officer.

Yours in solidarity

Charlotte Childs

National Officer

Posted on: 20 August 2021

Dear GMB Member,

As you are aware late last year we conducted a consultative ballot on the Employers position of no wage increase for 2021. This ballot delivered a 4 to 1 rejection of the employer’s position. We requested another meeting with your employers, but this was declined with the request that we meet in April to submit a claim for 2022 and beyond.

The NECC finds the position of employers unacceptable.

Our members have worked hard during this pandemic in the national interest contributing to the UK Energy agenda supporting the national demand for PPE and Hand Sanitizer to the UK population desperate for protection from the Covid-19 virus.

After consulting with your reps, the NECC has decided to conduct an indicative ballot of all members of GMB and our joint union who work under the NAECI agreement. This ballot will start on 8th February with a view to complete the survey by the 1st March.

We are asking our members to take part in the indicative ballot and to also complete a form to update you contact details, job title and Project you work on. This is vital to ensure any move to a legal ballot is possible.

Please support your Union in completing the ballot form and returning to your rep as soon as possible.

Thank you for your continued support and membership of the GMB and our joint union.

Yours in solidarity,

Charlotte Childs

National Officer GMB and NECC Chairwoman

Posted on: 28 April 2021

Dear GMB Member,

Firstly, a large thank you to the members and reps of GMB and our joint trade union for your continued support. Engineering construction workers have continued to support our communities during the Covid-19 crisis. You have provided an essential service to support the delivery of major projects, maintain critical timelines of jobs, and continued innovating workplaces so that you could continue in a safe and secure environment. Your unrivalled commitment to their sector cannot be understated or unrewarded.

We are please to be able to update you on the 2022 pay claim submitted on your behalf, the full details of the pay claim have been shared with your on-site representatives, but the headlines of the claim are detailed below:

• A 10% increase, or RPI, whichever is greater, over the period 2021 to 2023. Any agreed increase will be reflected on Bonus, Lodge and radius allowance
• Increased leave provisions
• Renegotiations and/or improvements on
• Meal break and refreshments clause
• Stand down (night shift)
• Travel time
• Overtime rate (night shift) NAECI 7.3.2 Shift systems, night shift working
• Lodge and Radius allowance, milage and tolls
• Enforcement of stage 4 decisions
• Safety glasses
• Health, Safety and Wellbeing Allowances

The NECC have requested a meeting at the ECIA’s earliest convenience, before the end of April, to commence pay talks and we will continue to keep you up to date and informed.

Thank you for your continued support and membership of the GMB and our joint trade union.

Yours in solidarity,

Charlotte Childs

National Officer GMB and NECC Chairwoman

Posted on: 10 August 2021

Dear GMB Member,

Following extensive negotiations the NAECI shop stewards forum discussed the offer outlined below.

The offer is in line with other Construction Agreements

CIJC 2.5% 2022

Electrical JIB 2.5% 2022, 2.5% 2023

Plumbing JIB, 2% 2022, 3% 2023

The only stable work under the Agreement currently is in the repair and maintenance sector. The next major project is not due to start until 2023.

For the reasons outlined above the NAECI National Shop Stewards Forum recommend acceptance of the offer outlined below:

A two-year Agreement

2022 – a 2.5% increase in NAECI hourly rates of pay from 10 January 2022

2022 – a 2.5% increase in radius and accommodation allowances from 10 January 2022 (subject to HMRC approval).

2023 – a 2.5% in NAECI rates of pay, from 9 January 2023

2023 – a 2.5% increase in radius and accommodation allowances from 9 January 2023 (subject to HMRC approval).

This offer is the Employer’s full and final response to the NECC Wages and Condition Claim for 2022 and beyond. The above Wages and Conditions Offer is subject to the following conditions.

This Wages and Conditions Offer shall be treated as a single, indivisible package, to be accepted or rejected in its entirety, without qualification or amendment.

The ballot will run until Friday 27 August.

Yours in solidarity,

Charlotte Childs, National Officer, GMB and NECC Chairwoman

Chris Weldon, Acting NECC Secretary

Posted on: 7 September 2021

Dear GMB Member,

On behalf of the NECC we are writing to update you on the NAECI 2022 pay talks.

Firstly we would like to thank our reps and members for their continued support.

Following a full ballot of our NAECI membership we are pleased to inform you that, by an overwhelming majority, the pay offer has been accepted.

The results are as follow:

73% Accept

27% Reject

The offer was as follows and will be implemented in January 2022:

A two-year Agreement

1. 2022 – a 2.5% increase in NAECI hourly rates of pay from 3rd January 2022.
2. 2022 – a 2.5% increase in radius and accommodation allowances from 2nd January 2022 (subject to HMRC approval).
3. 2023 – a 2.5% in NAECI rates of pay, from 9 January 2023.
4. 2023 – a 2.5% increase in radius and accommodation allowances from 9 January 2023 (subject to HMRC approval).

Yours in solidarity,

Charlotte Childs, National Officer GMB & NECC Chairwoman

Chris Weldon, NECC Secretary

Posted on: 25 June 2020

Dear GMB Member,

Please find links to the following information:

The National Agreement for Engineering and Construction Industry 2019-2020 with over 140 pages of relevant information for all those working in the industry:

http://www.njceci.org.uk/download/naeci-2019-2020-v3

NAECI Updates:

http://www.njceci.org.uk/latest-new

Engineering and Construction Proposed Projects:

http://www.njceci.org.uk/download/potential-projects-29-05-20