STRIKE action is set to hit a major oil terminal in north-east Lincolnshire after workers rejected an “insulting” below-inflation pay offer, their union announced today.

Energy union GMB argued that walkouts at the site in Immingham near Grimsby were “completely avoidable” but senior management at contractor Briggs Marine had refused to budge.

The firm is one of the largest oil logistics companies in Britain, unloading fuel from global suppliers and distributing it for use across the country.

The strike, which is due to begin tomorrow after staff overwhelmingly voted for industrial action, is expected to have a “significant impact on operations,” GMB warned.

Regional organiser David Shamma said that the latest wage proposal, which has not been made public, is a “kick in the teeth for a committed and loyal workforce who carried this company through Covid.”

He also accused bosses of “unlawfully deducting wages from GMB members’ pay packets relating to a separate matter,” saying the “deliberate attempt to intimidate them is an absolute disgrace.

“With a cost-of-living crisis hitting working people hard, it’s time for company top brass to get back around the table.”

A company spokesperson told the Morning Star: "Briggs believes that GMB has entered into industrial action hastily and before exploring all options open to it.

"There is a good pay offer on the table, and the company will continue to talk to the union.

"Briggs’ priority is to avoid disruption to our clients and it calls on GMB to suspend all industrial action immediately and to resume to normal working. In the interim, the company apologises to clients for any disruption caused."