AROUND 100 workers are set to strike at a Hampshire oil refinery in a dispute over pay. 

Unite the Union has claimed that around 100 of its members will take industrial action at Fawley Refinery over the next two months. 

Taking place on April 8, 25 and May 6, the strikes will see contractors who work for Trant Engineering Limited, Veolia Services and Altrad Services take part. 

It comes amid a 2.5 per cent pay offer and a lack of company sick pay which has been described by Unite as "pathetic". 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the company that owns the refinery, ExxonMobil is "filthy rich, making vast sums from high energy prices".

READ MORE: Strike ballot at Fawley refinery over 'insulting' pay offer

“They have no business whatsoever tabling a pathetic pay offer that is in fact a cut to wages, and absolutely not when RPI inflation is running at 8.2 per cent and expected to climb higher. 

“Unite’s top priority is our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and our Fawley membership will have the union’s 100 per cent support in their fight for a pay rise that reflects the cost of living.” 

The union claimed that those striking make up a third of the overall contractors at Fawley, but ExxonMobil told the Echo that they normally employ around 1,000 to 1,300 contractors at any one time. 

An ExxonMobil spokesperson said the contractors involved provide routine third-party maintenance services.

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They added: “We do not anticipate that the proposed action will impact on operations at Fawley, or on supplies to customers.

“We continue to encourage all parties to work together to reach a resolution.”

Despite this though, Unite claimed that petrol stations would face disruption as a result of the action. 

Unite regional officer Malcolm Bonnett said: “Unite’s Fawley members are utterly determined to win sick-pay parity with the rest of the refinery’s workforce and a decent pay rise. 

“Instead of letting the strikes drag on, causing more and more disruption to the refinery’s operations and clients, it is in Exxon’s and the employers’ interests to put forward an offer our members can accept.”  

MP for the area, Dr Julian Lewis told the Echo though: "The Refinery team seems confident that this wage dispute between some of its contractors and their employees will not disrupt Fawley’s vital output.

"Nevertheless, the standoff needs to be resolved in a way that is  fair without fuelling a vicious circle of runaway inflation.”