WORKERS are set to escalate their strike action at an Irvine manufacturing plant in a dispute over pay.

Around 160 members of the Unite union who work at the GSK plant are expected to hit the streets again from 6pm on Thursday June 22 until 8am on Saturday, June 24.

The pharmaceutical company said they were "disappointed" that the industrial action would continue and insisted their final offer was "fair".

Other strikes have been scheduled for GSK's plants in Barnard Castle, Montrose, Ulverston, Ware and Worthing.

The 750 workers involved in the action – who undertake a wide variety of roles including engineers, process technicians, laboratory analysts, warehouse workers and fire officers – have rejected an offer of six per cent and a one off lump sum of £1,300.

Unite said this was a substantially below the real inflation rate, RPI, of 11.4 per cent.

The union claims the pay offer is in stark contrast to the huge salary of GSK’s chief executive Emma Walmsley, who received £8.4 million last year. 

It has been estimated that Ms Walmlsey only has to work a single day to receive the same pay that the employees striking receive for the entire year.

GSK's latest financial results reveal it made an operating profit of £8.15 billion - a 26 per cent increase on the previous year.

Unite claims that the cost of resolving Unite’s pay claim would be just 0.05 per cent of the company’s profits. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is a clear example of corporate greed on a grand scale.

"The company is hugely profitable, the chief executive is paid in millions and yet they won’t give the workers a fair pay rise.

“Make no mistake, Unite will be giving its members at GSK its total support. The company’s attitude is indefensible.”

Unite members took initial strike action in the dispute last month.

Unite national officer Tony Devlin claimed: “Strikes have already depleted GSK’s stockpile of medicines and vaccines and fresh industrial action will create further shortages.

"However, this dispute is totally of GSK’s own making. The company has admitted it can make a fair pay offer but it has chosen not to.”

A GSK spokesperson told the Times: “We recognise that for many of our people, this past year, has seen their cost of living rise rapidly and believe the offer we have made to our UK manufacturing colleagues covered by collective bargaining agreements is fair and reasonable.

“We are therefore disappointed that the Unite union has chosen to undertake this industrial action, despite receiving a final offer which includes a six per cent increase on base pay, shift pay and allowances, plus a discretionary one-time payment of £1,300 – an overall package equivalent to a 9.7 per cent increase.”