Contractors working on a new warship being built on the Clyde are set to walk out in the new year in a dispute over pay.

Workers employed by CBL Cable Contractors Limited building the new type 26 Frigate at Scotstoun and Govan shipyards are set to strike in January and beyond as the row enters the next phase.

The contractors are demanding to be paid the BAE Systems yard rate, or an additional £1 per hour on top of the current rates of pay, and also involves travel-related payments.

These include electricians, labourers and cable hands.

BAE Systems – the UK’s biggest defence contractor – owns the shipyards and over 30 staff at CBL have told their trade union Unite that industrial action is now needed in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

And Unite general secretary Sharon Graham explained it’s now time for CBL to get around the negotiating table.

She said: “The CBL Cable workers are fully entitled to equal treatment at the Govan and Scotstoun yards. The company should stop paying lip service to the national agreement and immediately start paying the rate.

“Our members have their union’s full support in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

The strike action will occur over multiple days starting on January 10 and ending on March 24 2024.

In November, the CBL Cable workers indicated their anger over the pay dispute by emphatically backing strike action by 100 per cent on an 88 per cent turnout.

Unite members say they are due travel-related payments under the scope of the Joint Industry Board Agreement.

The Joint Industry Board Agreement sets the standards for employment, grading and apprentice training in the electrical contracting industry.

This includes travel time and the use of a personal vehicle to travel to work which entitles workers to a mileage allowance.

The UK Ministry of Defence awarded a £4.2bn contract to BAE Systems in November 2022 to manufacture the next five City Class Type 26 frigates for the Royal Navy in Glasgow.

The contract is estimated to sustain more than 4,000 jobs across BAE Systems and the wider UK maritime supply chain.

CBL Cable has been contacted for comment.