Following a series of pay freezes and below-inflation pay rises, industrial tensions had increased across the workforce.

In response, the Unite union held detailed negotiations with the employer’s side of the NAECI agreement. It was finally agreed that workers will receive a supplementary payment of an extra £1 for every hour worked between now and 30 June. After that date, the supplementary payment will become 75 pence an hour.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a significant increase in pay for workers, who have benefited from making a collective stand and forced their employers to take action on the cost of living crisis.

“The introduction of the supplementary payments underlines how Unite’s ruthless concentration on enhancing the pay of its members is bearing direct benefits for workers.”

Despite the acceptance by members of the supplementary payment, local disputes over bonus payments involving NAECI workers, including at Drax, Grangemouth, Torness, and Mossmoran, will continue, as workers continue to seek a further increase in bonus payments.

The ongoing local action will put additional pressure on employers to resolve the enduring tensions with the agreement when talks begin later this year for a new pay agreement, which is due to come into effect in January 2024.

Unite national officer Jason Poulter said: “The agreement of the supplementary payment was an important breakthrough for our members, who have been struggling to make ends meet.

“However employers must not be under any misapprehension that this will resolve the fundamental issues of fair pay which underlines this dispute. Local disputes to increase bonus payments will continue and employers must understand that until a fair permanent wage deal is agreed, industrial tensions will remain.”