BUILDING workers covered by the Construction Industry Joint Council are set for a wages and allowances boost next month after a new two-year pay deal worth 6.2 per cent was agreed.

Unite and GMB hailed a successful negotiation for their members that will lead to pay rates rising by 3.2 per cent from next month, with a further 2.9 per cent from June 2019.

Travel allowances will also increase in line with pay, while lodging allowances will go up by 7.8 per cent to £40 a night in this and then in line with inflation next year.

The deal also increases and extends industry sick pay to £130 per week, to be paid for up to 13 weeks.

Unite national officer for construction Jerry Swain said the deal was “a strong step in the right direction” which “underline[s] the value of working under an industrial agreement and being part of collective bargaining arrangements.”

GMB national officer Ross Murdoch hailed the agreement as “a recognition of a hard-working, highly skilled workforce and a demonstration of real commitment to maintaining meaningful joint national industrial agreement.”